Australian Market Marginally Higher

The Australian stock market is marginally higher after recouping early losses on Wednesday, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 above the 7,000 mark near 14-month highs, following mixed cues overnight from Wall Street. Weakness in materials and gold miners are offset by gains in energy, financial and technology stocks.

However, traders are cautious ahead of the release of first-quarter consumer price inflation data by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy statement later today.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 13.30 points or 0.19 percent to 7,047.10, after hitting a low of 7,028.60 in early trades. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 10.40 points or 0.14 percent to 7,305.90. Australian stocks ended marginally lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are losing almost 1 percent, while Fortescue Metals is flat.

In the tech space, Appen is gaining more than 3 percent and WiseTech Global is adding more than 1 percent, while Afterpay is down more than 1 percent each.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking is flat, while National Australia Bank, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are adding almost 1 percent each.

Westpac has agreed to settle a class action over life insurance launched by Shine Lawyers, with the bank agreeing to pay out up to $30 million over the lawsuit. The Federal Court has not yet approved the settlement.

Gold miners are lower after the gold prices tumbled. Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are losing almost 3 percent, Newcrest Mining is declining more than 2 percent and Resolute Mining is down almost 4 percent.

Oil stocks were higher after crude oil prices climbed. Oil Search is gaining almost 2 percent, while Woodside Petroleum and Santos are up more than 1 percent each.

In other news, the head of electronics retailing giant JB Hi-Fi Richard Murray will leave the company at the end of August to lead billionaire retailer Solomon Lew’s fashion empire Premier Investments. The stock is down 4 percent.

The consortium of investors, led by the Pacific Equity Partners and Carlyle, have withdrawn the $2.8 billion non-binding offer to takeover superannuation admin firm Link after it was rejected in October. Link shares are down almost 4 percent.

Shares in Ansell are surging more than 6 percent after the protective equipment maker upped its 2021 guidance, saying it expects a stronger second half than the first, pushing earnings per share and sales forecast higher. The company reported a 61.3 percent jump in profits to US$106.5 million or A$136 million for the first half of 2021.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.776 on Wednesday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Tuesday with traders looking ahead to the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq posted a modest loss, slipping 48.56 points or 0.3 percent to 14,090.22, while the Dow and the S&P 500 closed nearly flat. The Dow inched up 3.36 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 33,984.93 and the S&P 500 edged down 0.90 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 4,186.72.

Meanwhile, the major European markets showed modest moves to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index closed just below the unchanged line, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both slipped by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Tuesday as OPEC’s decision to gradually increase oil output helped offset concerns about energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $1.03 or 1.7 percent at $62.94 a barrel.

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