Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Wednesday after opening in the red, extending the gains in the previous seven sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,200 mark, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, boosted by strong gains in gold miners amid a spike in bullion prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 13.70 points or 0.19 percent to 7,249.70, after touching a high of 7,262.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 12.40 points or 0.17 percent to 7,443.90. Australian stocks ended slightly higher on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group is losing 1.5 percent, Fortescue Metals is declining almost 2 percent, Mineral Resources is down more than 2 percent and Rio Tinto is slipping almost 1 percent. OZ Minerals is flat. Oil stocks are mixed. Santos is edging down 0.4 percent, while Origin Energy is edging up 0.2 percent. Beach energy and Woodside Energy are flat. In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and Xero are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Appen and WiseTech Global are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each. Zip is declining almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and Westpac are flat, while Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each.

Among gold miners, Resolute Mining is surging more than 7 percent, Newcrest Mining is gaining more than 2 percent, Gold Road Resources is advancing almost 4 percent, Northern Star Resources is adding almost 3 percent and Evolution Mining is up more than 3 percent.

In economic news, the services sector in Australia fell into contraction territory in March, the latest survey from Judo Bank showed on Wednesday with a services PMI score of 48.6. That's down from 50.7 in February, and it moves beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that its composite index slipped from 50.6 in February to 48.5 in March.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.676 on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved back to the downside over the course of the trading day on Tuesday after trending higher in recent sessions. The major averages showed a lack of direction early in the session but slid firmly into negative territory as the day progressed.

The major averages regained some ground going into the close but remained in the red. The Dow slid 198.77 points or 0.6 percent to 33,402.38, the Nasdaq fell 63.13 points or 0.5 percent to 12,126.37 and the S&P 500 declined 23.91 points or 0.6 percent to 4,100.60.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index inched up by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index closed nearly unchanged and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Tuesday, extending gains to a fourth straight session as the decision of the OPEC+ to cut crude production continued to support oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $0.29 or 0.4 percent at $80.71 a barrel.