Australian stocks rebounded significantly on Wednesday, recovering from the previous session's losses. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 surged past the 8,000 mark, hitting fresh all-time highs, driven by positive momentum from Wall Street and gains in gold mining and technology sectors.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index advanced by 43.70 points, or 0.55%, to reach 8,043.00, peaking earlier at a record 8,044.40. Similarly, the broader All Ordinaries Index rose by 46.90 points, or 0.57%, to 8,290.20. On Tuesday, Australian stocks had closed slightly lower.
In the mining sector, BHP Group dipped by 0.4% and Fortescue Metals fell nearly 1%, whereas Mineral Resources increased almost 1% and Rio Tinto edged up by 0.2%.
Oil stocks showed a mixed performance. Beach Energy and Origin Energy edged up between 0.1% and 0.5%, while Santos rose nearly 1%. Conversely, Woodside Energy slipped by 0.1%.
In the technology sector, Afterpay owner Block and Xero saw gains of 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively. Appen jumped almost 3%, and WiseTech Global climbed more than 3%. Zip remained flat.
Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank edged down by 0.2%. Meanwhile, National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking, and Westpac saw marginal gains between 0.2% and 0.3%.
Gold miners performed strongly with Newmont and Evolution Mining each rising by over 2%, and Gold Road Resources and Northern Star Resources gaining nearly 3%. Resolute Mining surged almost 5%.
On the currency front, the Australian dollar was trading at $0.673 on Wednesday.
Turning to Wall Street, stocks mostly climbed on Tuesday, continuing the upward trend from the previous sessions. The Dow led the gains, reaching a new record closing high.
The Dow jumped 742.76 points, or 1.9%, to 40,954.48. The S&P 500 gained 35.98 points, or 0.6%, to close at a new high of 5,667.20, while the Nasdaq rose by 36.77 points, or 0.2%, to 18,509.34.
In contrast, European markets declined. The French CAC 40 Index dropped by 0.7%, the German DAX Index fell by 0.4%, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dipped by 0.2%.
Crude oil prices continued their downward trend for the third consecutive session on Tuesday, affected by demand concerns and a slightly stronger dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude for August delivery fell by $1.15, or 1.4%, to $80.76 per barrel.
