Australian Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading slightly higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous four sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 7,800 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in technology and energy stocks.

Traders also reacted to the Reserve Bank of Australia holding the cash rate unchanged at 4.35% for the fourth time since last raising it in November.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 12.20 points or 0.16 percent to 7,805.50, after touching a high of 7,814.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 10.20 points or 0.13 percent to 8,075.70. Australian stocks ended sharply higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each while BHP Group and Mineral Resources are flat.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is edging up 0.3 percent, while Santos and Beach energy are gaining almost 1 percent each. Origin Energy is flat. In the tech space, Xero and WiseTech Global are edging up 0.2 percent each, while Appen and Zip are gaining almost 1 percent each. Afterpay owner Block is losing almost 3 percent. Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.5 percent and ANZ Banking is gaining more than 1 percent, while Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging down 0.3 to 0.5 percent each.

Among gold miners, Newmont is edging up 0.3 percent and Resolute Mining is gaining almost 1 percent each, while Evolution Mining, Gold Road Resources and Northern Star Resources are edging down 0.4 to 0.5 percent each.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.658 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks saw modest strength throughout much of the trading session on Tuesday but gave back ground in afternoon trading to end the day little changed. The Dow still managed to close higher for the fifth consecutive session, reaching its best closing level in a month.

The major averages ended the day narrowly mixed. While the Nasdaq edged down 16.69 points or 0.1 percent to 16,332.56, the Dow crept up 31.99 points or 0.1 percent to 38,884.26 and the S&P 500 inched up 6.96 points or 0.1 percent to 5,187.70.

The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index shot up by 1.4 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1.2 percent and the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 1.0 percent.

Crude oil prices settled slightly lower on Tuesday amid concerns about the outlook for global oil demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended lower by $0.10 at $78.38 a barrel.