Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading modestly higher on Wednesday after opening in the red, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving well above the 8,700 level, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in gold miners and energy stocks partially offset by weakness in iron ore miners and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 13.80 points or 0.16 percent to 8,723.10, after touching a high of 8,722.00 and a low of 8,696.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 14.80 points or 0.17 percent to 8,901.40. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto is losing almost 1 percent, Mineral Resources is down more than 1 percent and Fortescue is edging down 0.1 percent. BHP Group is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is edging up 0.3 percent, Santos is adding more than 1 percent and Beach energy is gaining almost 3 percent. Origin Energy is flat.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 1 percent and Zip is edging up 0.3 percent, while Xero is losing almost 1 percent and WiseTech Global is edging down 0.4 percent. Appen is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Australia bank are losing almost 1 percent each. ANZ Banking is edging down 0.5 percent.

Among gold miners, Genesis Minerals and Resolute Mining are adding more than 1 percent each, while Newmont is edging up 0.4 percent and Evolution Mining is gaining almost 2 percent. Northern Star Resources is surging almost 8 percent after reports that South Africa's Gold Field was considering a sweetening its offer for the company.

In other news, shares in Lindian Resources are plunging more than 18 percent after re-emerging from a trading halt. It confirmed that the ban on mining companies exporting raw materials has not affected its flagship Kangankunde project in Malawi. Shares in DhroneShield are jumping almost 9 percent after it announced that its US subsidiary has been awarded a 3-year indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract by the US Army, with a ceiling value of US$500 million.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.699 on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction throughout the trading session on Tuesday, with the major averages spending the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line following the weakness seen during the previous session.

The major averages eventually ended the day modestly lower. The Dow fell 131.59 points or 0.3 percent to 51,349.92, the Nasdaq edged down 22.84 points or 0.1 percent to 26,797.54 and the S&P 500 dipped 12.85 points or 0.2 percent to 6,760.84.

Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day mixed. While the German DAX Index crept up by 0.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index both fell by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices could not hold early gains and turned significantly lower Tuesday on reports that crude oil exports from Saudi Arabia's Red Sea ports are recovering from an attack on a key pipeline earlier this month. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $2.90 or 3.1 percent to $89.70 a barrel.