The Australian stock market is trading modestly higher on Wednesday with investors indulging in some selective buying in the banking, insurance and mining sectors. With Wall Street providing no prominent cues, investors are mostly seen treading cautiously ahead of release of data on inflation.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index, which advanced to 4,513.6 in early trades, is currently up 10.6 points or 0.2% at 4,508. The broader All Ordinaries index is up 7.1 points or 0.2% at 4,521.
On Tuesday, the S&P/ASX 200 index gained 11.3 points or 0.3% to close at 4,497.4, while the All Ordinaries index ended up 9.5 points or 0.2% at 4,513.9.
Among bank stocks, ANZ Bank and National Australia Bank are trading higher by 1.2% and 1.5% respectively, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac are up with modest gains. Bank of Queensland and Bendigo & Adelaide Bank are up 0.5% and 0.7% respectively.
Among top miners, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are up with modest gains, while Newcrest Mining is trading lower by about 1.5%.
Bluescope Steel, Incitec Pivot, Orica and Lihir Gold are trading weak. Lihir Gold says June quarterly production is in line with guidance and up 6% on the previous quarter. The company said its merger with Newcrest Mining is proceeding as planned.
Shares of Macarthur Coal Limited are up marginally. The company announced that it has achieved a sales record for fiscal 2010, despite a lagging performance in the June quarter. The miner said increased production, improved economic conditions and a sell down of high opening coal stocks all helped improve sales for the year to June 30. In total the miner sold 5.32 million tonnes in 2009-2010, up 15.3% on the previous year. But sales in the June quarter were down 10.8% on the prior corresponding period. The collier said total annual sales was ahead of the guidance range of 4.8 million tonnes to 5.0 million tonnes.
In the energy space, Woodside Petroleum, Santos and Origin Energy are down marginally, while Oil Search is in positive territory with a small gain.
Shares of engineering firm Downer EDI are up over 5% following the company signing contracts worth about A$2 billion with the BHP Billiton-Mitsubishi Alliance. Downer said Wednesday that the contracts to June 2015 were for work at the Goonyella Riverside and Norwich Park mines in the Bowen Basin in central Queensland.
Insurance stocks Insurance Australia, Suncorp-Metway and QBE Insurance are trading notably higher.
In economics news, data on Consumer Price Index is due for release today.
In the currency market, Australian dollar opened flat and was quoting at US$0.9022-US$0.9028 in early trades, up slightly from Tuesday's close of US$0.9021-US$0.9023. The Australian dollar is currently trading at 0.9008 to the U.S. dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Japan and New Zealand are trading notably higher. Singapore, Shanghai and Malaysia are trading flat, while South Korea and Taiwan are exhibiting weakness. Markets across the region ended on a mixed note on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed on opposite sides of the unchanged mark on Tuesday, as a mixed batch of economic data and solid quarterly earnings results divided market sentiment on the day. While the Dow eked out a modest gain, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 declined by slim margins.
On the economic front, the Conference Board released a report showing that its consumer confidence index fell to 50.4 in July from an upwardly revised 54.3 in June. Economists had expected the index to slip to a reading of 51.0 compared to the 52.9 originally reported for the previous month.
The Dow gained 12.26 points or 0.1% to close at 10,537.69, a new two-month closing high, while the Nasdaq declined by 8.2 points or 0.4% to 2,288.3 and the S&P 500 slipped by 1.2 points or 0.1% to 1,113.8.
Major European markets ended with moderate gains on Tuesday. The French CAC 40 index gained 0.8%, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index and the German DAX index advanced by 0.3% and 0.2% respectively.
Crude oil prices declined on Tuesday amid data showing a bigger-than-expected decline in U.S. consumer confidence. Light, sweet crude for September delivery settled at US$77.50 a barrel, down US$1.48, on the session.
The price of crude oil had advanced 4% in the previous week to hit a two-month high, as strong corporate results from the U.S. helped prop up risk appetite of investors and a tropical storm threatened to disrupt production on the Gulf of Mexico.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.