On Wednesday, the Australian stock market is witnessing a continued upward trend in mid-market trading, successfully clawing back from the modest losses experienced in the prior session. The key S&P/ASX 200 index comfortably surpasses the 8,450-mark, buoyed by broadly favorable signals from Wall Street's overnight performance. Notable gains are observed across a range of sectors, prominently led by technology, energy, and financial stocks.
Currently, the S&P/ASX 200 Index has risen by 77.00 points, or 0.92%, to reach 8,476.10, having previously peaked at 8,480.00. The broader All Ordinaries Index has similarly increased, gaining 82.90 points, or 0.96%, to 8,727.40. The Australian market closed slightly lower the previous day.
In the mining sector, BHP Group shows a slight decline of 0.2%, and Rio Tinto has dropped almost 1%. In contrast, Mineral Resources shows a healthy increase of 1.5%, while Fortescue Metals registers an uplift of over 1%.
Oil stocks are performing positively, with Woodside Energy climbing almost 2%, and Beach Energy advancing beyond 1%. Santos and Origin Energy are also showing modest gains between 0.3% and 0.5% each.
In the technology sector, Appen is experiencing a notable rise of over 4%, similarly, WiseTech Global is up by nearly 4%. Xero posts a 2.5% increase, and Zip reports a gain of over 2%. Meanwhile, Block, the owner of Afterpay, has announced a trading halt.
Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank adds nearly 1%, and National Australia Bank edges up by 0.4%. ANZ Banking and Westpac each gain more than 1%.
Within the gold mining segment, Evolution Mining experiences an increase of nearly 2%, Resolute Mining is up by almost 4%, and Northern Star Resources adds over 1%. Gold Road Resources and Newmont are each up by nearly 1%.
Elsewhere, Boss Energy shares are surging by nearly 11% after the uranium miner reported strong operational results from its Honeymoon project.
In economic updates, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reports that consumer prices rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in the fourth quarter of 2024. This figure slightly falls short of the expected 0.3%, remaining unchanged from the previous quarter. On an annual basis, inflation increased by 2.4%, also missing the anticipated 2.5% and declining from the 2.8% recorded in the third quarter.
On the currency market front, the Australian dollar is trading at $0.624 on Wednesday.
