The Australian stock market is trading higher on Wednesday tracking positive cues from Wall Street, where the major averages closed at record highs overnight.
Mining, property trusts, consumer discretionary, industrial and information technology stocks are trading higher, while stocks from healthcare and consumer staples sections are trading weak.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is up 24.8 points or 0.5 percent at 5,168.5. The broader All Ordinaries index is trading at 5,148.5, up 25.8 points or 0.5 percent from its previous close.
Among bank stocks, ANZ Bank is up 0.8 percent, Commonwealth Bank of Australia is trading 0.6 percent up and Westpac (WBK) is up marginally, while National Australia Bank is trading weak, losing about 0.2 percent. Bendigo & Adelaide Bank and Bank of Queensland are up 1 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.
In the mining space, Rio Tinto (RIO) and BHP Billiton (BHP) are trading higher by 1.3 percent and 1 percent, respectively. BHP Billiton announced that it will raise A$734 million by issuing bonds in Canada.
In the energy sector, Woodside Petroleum, Santos and Origin Energy are down 0.2 to 0.6 percent, while Oil Search and Caltex Australia are up marginally.
Atlas Iron is trading higher by over 6 percent. Iluka Resources, Downer EDI, Fortescue Metals and PanAust are up 3.3 to 4.3 percent. Bluescope Steel, Leighton Holdings, SP Ausnet, Arrium, Flight Centre, Aurora Oil & Gas, Orica, Alumina (AWC) and Goodman Group are all advancing by 2.2 to 2.6 percent.
Ansell, Worleyparsons, Lynas Corp. and Sims Metal Management are also trading sharply higher.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar declined to a two-month low against the U.S. dollar. In early trades, the Aussie was quoting at US$1.0155, down from Tuesday's close of US$1.0190.
On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher on Tuesday, although trading activity was somewhat subdued.
The major averages all ended the day in positive territory, although the Nasdaq posted only a modest gain. The Nasdaq edged up 3.7 points or 0.1 percent to 3,396.6, while the Dow rose 87.3 points or 0.6 percent to 15,056.2 and the S&P 500 advanced 8.5 points or 0.5 percent to 1,626.
The gains on the day lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to new record closing highs, with the Dow closing above 15,000 for the first time. The Nasdaq also set a new twelve-year high.
Major European markets too ended higher on Tuesday. While the French CAC 40 index moved up 0.4 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index climbed 0.6 percent and the German DAX index ended the day with a gain of 0.9 percent.
U.S. crude oil snapped a three-day gain to end lower on Tuesday, due largely on profit taking, after having gained more than five percent over the last three sessions.
Crude for June delivery ended down $0.54 or 0.6 percent at $95.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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