Australian Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading slightly higher on Wednesday after opening in the green and slipping briefly in to the red, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying just above the 8,600 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in energy and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 8.80 points or 0.10 percent to 8,623.10, after touching a high of 8,631.30 and a low of 8,602.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 10.30 points or 0.12 percent to 8,554.80. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is edging up 0.3 percent and Mineral Resources is gaining almost 1 percent, while Fortescue is slipping almost 1 percent. Rio Tinto is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos and Origin Energy are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Woodside Energy is edging up 0.4 percent and Beach energy is adding more than 2 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is edging up 0.1 percent and Appen is adding almost 1 percent, while Zip and Xero are gaining more than 1 percent each. WiseTech Global is flat.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking is losing more than 2 percent, while National Australia bank, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is losing almost 1 percent, Resolute Mining is down more than 1 percent and Genesis Minerals declining more than 2 percent, while Northern Star Resources and Newmont are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each.

In other news, shares in Sims Ltd. are surging more than 9 percent as it expected 2026 fiscal year underlying EBIT of between $350 million and $400 million as strong non-ferrous metal prices and buoyant memory chip markets support earnings.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.711 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks showed another strong move to the upside in early trading on Tuesday following the recovery rally seen in the previous session, but gave back ground over the course of the day. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session but managed to close in positive territory.

The major averages added to the strong gains posted on Monday, climbing further off Friday's three-month closing lows. The Nasdaq climbed 105.35 points or 0.5 percent to 22,479.53, the S&P 500 rose 16.71 points or 0.3 percent to 6,716.09 and the Dow inched up 46.85 points or 0.1 percent to 46,993.26. The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the German DAX Index climbed by 0.7 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices surged Tuesday as Iran stepped up its attack on energy infrastructure in the Middle East in its war against the U.S. and Israel. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was up $2.57 or 2.75 percent at $96.07 per barrel.