The Australian stock market pared early gains and is edging down on Wednesday, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 below the 6,800 level, after two straight days of gains, despite positive cues overnight from Wall Street. Technology stocks are tracking overnight gains on Wall Street.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 7.20 points or 0.11 percent to 6,764.00 and the broader All Ordinaries Index is lower by 3.00 points or 0.04 percent to 6,997.40. Australian stocks closed higher on Tuesday.
In the tech space, Appen is gaining 4 percent, Afterpay is surging more than 9 percent and WiseTech Global is adding more than 3 percent.
Gold miners are also higher as gold prices surged overnight. Evolution Mining is gaining almost 4 percent, Newcrest Mining is adding more than 3 percent and Northern Star Resources is up more than 4 percent.
Meanwhile, the major miners are notably lower. BHP Group is losing more than 2 percent, Fortescue Metals is plunging almost 7 percent and Rio Tinto is down nearly 4 percent.
Oil stocks are also lower after crude oil prices dropped overnight. Oil Search is declining almost 3 percent, Woodside Petroleum is down more than 3 percent and Santos is losing almost 2 percent.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Commonwealth Bank are losing almost 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank is down more than 1 percent.
Shares in Hansen Technologies are surging more than 16 percent after the software company raised its full year revenue guidance, based on a service deal with Telefonica Germany GMBH.
In economic news, the latest survey from Westpac Bank showed consumer confidence in Australia picked up steam to improve 2.6 percent to a near a ten-year high score of 111.8 in March. That follows the 1.9 percent gain in February to 109.1. All components of the Index were higher in March.
Further, the total number of overall building permits issued in Australia in January was down a seasonally adjusted 19.4 percent on month in January, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday – coming in at 15,926. That was in line with expectations following the 12.0 percent gain in December. This was the first drop in building permits since August last year. On a yearly basis, building permits were up 19.0 percent. The total value of overall building permits issued in January was down a seasonally adjusted 16.8 percent on month, coming in at A$9.064 billion.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of Australia chief Philip Lowe reiterated the bank’s commitment to its three-year yield target and said it’s not considering removing it or changing it. Australia’s central bank has stepped up its bond buying in recent weeks, including an unscheduled operation, as it battled rising yields fueled by a reflation trade sweeping global markets.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.771 on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, following the sell-off seen in the previous session, U.S. technology stocks showed a substantial move back to the upside during trading on Tuesday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq skyrocketed, bouncing off a nearly three-month closing low.
The Nasdaq soared 464.66 points or 3.7 percent to 13,073.82, recording its biggest single-day gain since last November. The S&P 500 also jumped 54.09 points or 1.4 percent to 3,875.44, while the Dow posted a much more modest gain, inching up 30.30 points or 0.1 percent to 31,832.74.
The major European markets all moved to the upside over the course of the trading day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index edged up by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both rose by 0.4 percent.
Crude oil futures failed to hold early gains and settled lower on Tuesday, extending losses from previous session. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended down $1.04 or 1.6 percent at $64.01 a barrel after rising to a high of $65.98 a barrel earlier in the day.
Market Analysis
Australian Market Edging Down, Pares Early Gains
2021-03-10 01:36:33
