Australian Market Significantly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is significantly higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 7,000 mark, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, with gains across most sectors, led by energy and technology stocks, amid easing concerns about the crisis in the global banking sector.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 61.40 points or 0.88 percent to 7,016.80, after touching a high of 7,032.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 60.20 points or 0.84 percent to 7,202.40. Australian stocks ended significantly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is edging up 0.3 percent, Mineral Resources is gaining more than 3 percent, Fortescue Metals is adding more than 2 percent and Rio Tinto is up almost 1 percent. OZ Minerals is flat. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is gaining almost 5 percent, Santos is adding more than 3 percent and Origin Energy is up almost 2 percent. Beach energy is surging more than 5 percent.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is advancing more than 4 percent, Zip is gaining 3.5 percent, WiseTech Global is up more than 1 percent and Appen is surging almost 6 percent, while Xero is edging down 0.1 percent. Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Westpac is adding 1.5 percent.

Among gold miners, Newcrest Mining is losing almost 2 percent, Gold Road Resources is sliding more than 6 percent, Northern Star Resources is declining almost 4 percent, Evolution Mining is down more than 3 percent and Resolute Mining is slipping almost 5 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.667 on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading session on Tuesday, extending the upward move seen during trading on Monday. The major averages all showed strong moves to the upside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq reaching its best closing level in over a month.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the close but held on to strong gains. The Dow jumped 316.02 points or 1.0 percent to 32,560.60, the Nasdaq surged 184.57 points or 1.6 percent to 11,860.11 and the S&P 500 shot up 51.30 points or 1.3 percent at 4,002.87.

The major European markets also showed strong moves to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.4 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both shot up by 1.8 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Tuesday, gaining for a second straight session amid improving risk sentiment thanks to the coordinated efforts by major central banks to rescue troubled U.S. and European lenders. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $1.69 or 2.5 percent at $69.33 a barrel.