(RTTNews) – The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Wednesday, recouping the losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,200 level, following the broadly positive cues overnight from Wall Street, amid easing geopolitical concerns following news Russia is pulling back some troops from the Ukrainian border.
Concerns over the domestic Covid-19 cases have also softened despite a recent spike in cases in some areas. New South Wales reported 10,463 new cases and 27 deaths on Tuesday and Victoria also reported 8,149 new cases and 18 deaths.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 34.30 points or 0.48 percent to 7,241.20, after touching a high of 7,264.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 37.30 points or 0.50 percent to 7,527.60. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Tuesday.
Among major miners, Rio Tinto is edging down 0.5 percent, while BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are losing more than 2 percent each. OZ Minerals is gaining more than 2 percent and Mineral Resources is edging up 0.5 percent.
Fortescue Metals reported a 32 percent drop in first-half profit, hurt by higher material and labour costs amid the pandemic, but beat estimates. It also declared a lower interim dividend.
Oil stocks are mixed. Origin Energy and Woodside Petroleum are edging down 0.5 percent each, while Beach energy is adding more than 1 percent.
Santos is losing more than 3 percent after it reported that its annual underlying profit more than tripled, supported by soaring oil and gas prices. The company also declared a final dividend.
In the tech space, WiseTech Global is gaining almost 1 percent, Appen is adding almost 4 percent, Xero is edging up 0.4 percent, Block is advancing almost 2 percent and Zip is rising more than 2 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking, Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.5 percent each.
Among gold miners, Gold Road Resources and Newcrest Mining are losing more than 1 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is down almost 1 percent. Evolution Mining is edging up 0.5 percent and Resolute Mining is gaining almost 1 percent.
In other news, shares in Liontown Resources are soaring almost 16 percent after the lithium miner signed a five-year agreement to supply lithium spodumene concentrate to electric carmaker Tesla.
Shares in CSL are adding more than 7 percent despite the biotech firm posted a 5 percent decline first-half net profit as the COVID-19 pandemic inhibited its ability to collect plasma. The company declared an interim dividend, but sees weak results for the second half and full-year.
Treasury Wine Estates posted a 7.5 percent drop in first-half profit and missed market expectations. However, the stock is up almost 11 percent.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.715 on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move to the upside during trading on Tuesday, regaining ground following the sell-off seen over the three previous sessions. The major averages all moved sharply higher, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the advance.
The major averages finished the session near their best levels of the day. The Dow jumped 422.67 points or 1.2 percent to 34,988.84, the Nasdaq spiked 348.84 points or 2.5 percent to 14,139.76 and the S&P 500 surged 69.40 points or 1.6 percent to 4,471.07.
The major European markets also showed strong moves back to the upside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index surged up by 1.9 percent and 2.0 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices tumbled on Tuesday as worries about supply disruptions eased amid the de-escalation of tensions between Russia and Ukraine. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended down by $3.39 or 3.6 percent at $92.07 a barrel.
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