Australian shares are trading notably higher on Wednesday, reversing the losses in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving well above the 8,700 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in mining and financial stocks partially offset by weakness in energy stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 50.90 points or 0.59 percent to 8,731.40, after touching a high of 8,736.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 51.80 points or 0.58 percent to 8,955.10. Australian stocks ended modestly lower on Tuesday.
Among major miners, BHP Group and Mineral Resources are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Rio Tinto and Fortescue are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each.
Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy is losing almost 1 percent and Woodside Energy is down more than 1 percent, while Origin Energy and Santos are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each.
In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block and Xero are losing almost 1 percent each, while Zip and WiseTech Global are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each. Appen is gaining almost 2 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are gaining more than 1 percent each, while National Australia bank, and Westpac are adding more than 2 percent each. Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is edging down 0.3 percent and Northern Star Resources is losing more than 1 percent, while Resolute Mining is adding more than 1 percent, Newmont is edging up 0.2 percent and Genesis Minerals is gaining almost 2 percent.
In other news, shares in David Di-Pilla backed DigiCo are soaring almost 16 percent after the data centre developer announced the sale of its Chicago site for $1 billion as the company looks to off-load its North American locations in favour of expanding its flagship Sydney data centre.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.722 on Wednesday.
On the Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move back to the upside during trading on Tuesday after coming under pressure over the course of the previous session. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 more than offset yesterday's losses, reaching new record closing highs.
The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the end of the day but remained firmly positive. The Nasdaq jumped 258.32 points or 1 percent to 25,326.13, the S&P 500 advanced 58.47 points or 0.8 percent to 7,259.22 and the Dow climbed 356.35 points or 0.7 percent to 49,298.25. Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped 1.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.1 percent and the German DAX Index shot up by 1.7 percent.
Crude oil prices plummeted on Tuesday after U.S. attempts to unblock Strait of Hormuz traffic boosted market sentiments and eased supply concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery was down $3.80 or 3.57 percent at $102.62 per barrel.
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Market Analysis
May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.