Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - Australian stock market is trading notably higher on Wednesday, reversing the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving to a tad below the 8,400 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains across most sectors led by mining and energy stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 38.50 points or 0.46 percent to 8,397.90, after touching a high of 8,411.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 39.70 points or 0.46 percent to 8,652.30. Australian stocks ended significantly lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is gaining almost 2 percent. Mineral Resources is edging down 0.3 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy and Beach energy are edging up 0.2 percent each, while Origin Energy is gaining more than 1 percent and Santos is adding almost 1 percent. In the tech space, Appen is advancing almost 6 percent and WiseTech Global is adding more than 2 percent, while Xero is edging down 0.5 percent and Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 1 percent. Zip is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is adding more than 1 percent, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each. National Australia Bank is flat.

Among gold miners, Evolution Mining, Gold Road Resources and Newmont are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is adding more than 2 percent and Resolute Mining is advancing more than 1 percent.

In other news, shares in Web Travel Group are soaring almost 12 percent after the travel technology company reported upbeat results for the first-half.

Shares in Webjet are also surging 13 percent after reporting strong half-year revenue and announcing a share buyback plan of up to A$150 million.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.648 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks moved to the upside over the course of the trading day on Tuesday after turning in a mixed performance early in the session. The Dow recovered from early weakness to end the day at another new record closing high.

The Dow fell by as much as 0.7 percent in early trading but ended the day up 123.74 points or 0.3 percent at 44,860.31. The S&P 500 also climbed 34.26 points or 0.6 percent to a record closing high of 6,021.63, while the Nasdaq rose 119.46 points or 0.6 percent to 19,174.30.

The major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index fell by 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index declined by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Tuesday following reports Israel and Hezbollah are closer to reaching a cease-fire agreement within the next few days. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January closed down $0.17 at $68.77 a barrel.