Australian shares are trading notably higher on Wednesday, reversing the slight losses in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 8,750 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in mining and energy stocks partially offset by weakness in technology stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 42.90 points or 0.49 percent to 8,767.30, after touching a high of 8,779.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 40.00 points or 0.45 percent to 9,006.00. Australian stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday.
Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are adding almost 2 percent each, while Fortescue is gaining almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is advancing more than 1 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy and Santos are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Origin Energy is losing almost 1 percent. Beach energy is flat.
In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 2 percent, Zip is declining almost 3 percent and Appen is down more than 1 percent, while WiseTech Global and Xero are slipping more than 3 percent each.
Among the big four banks, National Australia bank is edging down 0.2 percent, while Westpac, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each.
Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining almost 1 percent, Northern Star Resources is surging more than 5 percent and Newmont are edging up 0.1 percent, while Resolute Mining is losing almost 1 percent and Genesis Minerals is edging down 0.2 percent.
In economic news, the services sector in Australia slipped into the red in May, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Wednesday with a services PMI score of 48.7. That's down from 50.7 in April and it falls beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the composite PMI dropped to 48.7 from 50.4 in the previous month.
Australia's composite PMI was revised higher to 48.7 in May 2026 from 47.8 in the preliminary estimate and down from a final 50.7 in the previous month. It marked the second contraction in three months.
The Ai Group Industry Index for Australia's construction sector rose 9.0 points to -9.9 in May 2026, extending its recent recovery and notching a three-month high.
Australia's Ai Group Industry Index for manufacturing rose 5.1 points to -22.4 in May 2026, a three-month high that signaled modest improvement but left the sector deep in contraction.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.718 on Wednesday.
On the Wall Street, stocks were able to shake off early weakness and find modest gains on Tuesday, with each of the three major averages hitting record closing highs for the third day in a row.
The Dow added 228.91 points or 0.45 percent to finish at 51,307.79, while the NASDAQ rose 7.09 points or 003 percent to close at 27,093.90 and the S&P 500 added 9.86 points or 0.13 percent to end at 7,609.82. The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.77 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.48 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.33 percent.
Crude oil prices jumped on Tuesday as the U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding has been delayed. Also, global energy watchdogs warn of accelerating crude oil inventory depletion. West Texas Intermediate crude for July was up $1.57 or 1.70 percent at $93.73 per barrel.
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Market Analysis
May 22, 2026 14:46 ET Minutes of the latest Fed policy session was the highlight of the week along with survey data on the U.S. housing market. In Europe, survey data signaled the trends in the euro area private sector. Further, consumer price inflation data from the U.K. was in focus. In Asia, various economic indicators from China drew attention to the health of the economy.