Australian Market Significantly Higher

(RTTNews) - Australian shares are trading significantly higher on Wednesday, snapping a three-session losing streak, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving up to near the 9,100 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 75.80 points or 0.84 percent to 9,098.10, after touching a high of 9,108.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 80.40 points or 0.87 percent to 9,324.70. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Mineral Resources are adding more than 2 percent each, while Rio Tinto is gaining more than 1 percent and Fortescue is advancing more than 3 percent. Oil stocks are mixed. Santos is edging up 0.2 percent and Woodside Energy is gaining almost 1 percent, while Origin Energy and Beach energy are losing almost 1 percent each.

In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 2 percent, Zip is jumping more than 7 percent, Xero is advancing almost 3 percent, Appen is soaring almost 15 percent and WiseTech Global is surging almost 6 percent.

Among the big four banks, Westpac and National Australia bank are gaining more than 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking and Commonwealth Bank are adding almost 1 percent each. Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining more than 3 percent, Resolute Mining is advancing almost 3 percent and Northern Star Resources is up 1.5 percent, while Newmont and Genesis Minerals are adding almost 1 percent each.

In other news, shares in Woolworths are surging almost 10 percent after the supermarket posted upbeat first-half results. It also raised interim dividend 15.4 percent.

Shares in Helia are soaring almost 19 percent after the mortgage insurer reported upbeat results for the full year 2025. It also boosted final dividend and declared a special dividend.

In economic news, consumer prices in Australia were up a seasonally adjusted 3.8 percent on year in January, the Australian Bureau of Statistics or ABS said on Wednesday - unchanged from the December reading following an upward revision from 3.6 percent. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, inflation rose 0.5 percent. Trimmed mean inflation was 3.4 percent, up from 3.3% in the 12 months to December 2025. The weighted mean was steady at 3.8 percent.

The ABS also said the value of construction work done in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2025, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday - coming in at A$80.011 billion. That was well shy of expectations for an increase of 1.2 percent following the 0.7 percent decline in the previous three months. On a yearly basis, construction work was up 3.0 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.707 on Wednesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move back to the upside during trading on Tuesday following the sell-off seen in the previous session. The major averages all moved notably higher, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the way.

The major averages ended the day not far off their highs of the session. The Nasdaq jumped 236.41 points or 1.0 percent to 22,863.68, the Dow advanced 370.44 points or 0.8 percent to 49,174.50 and the S&P 500 climbed 52.32 points or 0.8 percent to 6,890.07.

Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day mixed. While the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both closed marginally lower.

Crude oil prices fell slumped Tuesday as traders continue to evaluate the potential turbulence in the trade tariff environment following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on reciprocal tariffs. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery sank $0.71 or 1.1 percent to $66.31 a barrel.