(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is sharply higher on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 7,100 level, following the broadly positive cues overnight from Wall Street, with energy and materials stocks leading the gains. Traders also await Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe's speech on the economic outlook later in the day.
Meanwhile, concerns over the domestic Covid-19 cases have softened as the daily new cases are on a steady decline. New South Wales reported 11,807 new cases and 27 deaths on Monday and Victoria also reported 14,553 new cases and 25 deaths. Queensland recorded 9,630 new cases and 16 deaths, ACT reported 549 new cases, South Australia reported 1,723 new cases and Tasmania reported 666 new cases.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 96.40 points or 1.38 percent to 7,102.40, after touching a high of 7,107.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 99.70 points or 1.36 percent to 7,412.50. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday.
Among major miners, BHP Group is adding more than 2 percent, OZ Minerals is gaining more than 3 percent and Fortescue Metals is surging more than 4 percent, while Mineral Resources and Rio Tinto are advancing almost 3 percent each.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Petroleum is gaining 2.5 percent, while Santos and Beach energy are adding more than 2 percent each. Origin Energy is edging down 0.4 percent.
In the tech space, WiseTech Global and Xero are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Zip is losing more than 2 percent and Block is declining more than 3 percent. Appen is flat.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Commonwealth Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.3 percent each.
Among gold miners, Newcrest Mining and Evolution Mining are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining is surging more than 5 percent and Northern Star Resources is adding more than 2 percent. Gold Road Resources is edging down 0.4 percent. In other news, Shares in Brainchip are spiking more than 9 percent after the processor designer said it was awarded another US patent.
Shares in Lumos are rocketing more than 14 percent the diagnostics business confirmed the Victorian government will help fund onshore production of its COViDx rapid test if it gets Therapeutic Goods Administration approval. Telco giant Telstra is planning to spend more than $1.4 billion on two major infrastructure projects to boost connectivity and internet speeds across Australia. The stock is up more than 1 percent.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.714 on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction throughout much of the trading session on Tuesday but managed to end the day mostly higher. With the upward move, the major averages added to the strong gains posted in the two previous sessions.
The major averages moved to the upside going into the close, ending the session near their best levels of the day. The Dow advanced 273.38 points or 0.8 percent to 35,405.24, the Nasdaq climbed 106.12 points or 0.8 percent to 14,346.00 and the S&P 500 rose 30.99 points or 0.7 percent at 4,546.54.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 surged up by 1.4 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both jumped by 1 percent.
Crude oil prices settled slightly higher on Tuesday, with traders largely making cautious moves ahead of the OPEC+ meeting. Investors also kept an eye on developments in the Ukraine for direction. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March edged up by $0.05 or 0.06% at $88.20 a barrel.
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