The Australian stock market is extending its early gains in mid-market moves on Wednesday after opening in the green and slipping briefly in to the red, adding to the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying well above the 8,600 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains in energy and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in gold mining and financial stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 18.20 points or 0.21 percent to 8,632.50, after touching a high of 8,644.80 and a low of 8,602.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 21.00 points or 0.24 percent to 8,840.40. Australian stocks ended modestly higher on Tuesday.
Among major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Fortescue is slipping almost 1 percent. Mineral Resources is flat.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos is gaining almost 1 percent, Origin Energy is advancing more than 1 percent, Woodside Energy is edging up 0.5 percent and Beach energy is adding almost 3 percent.
In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is edging up 0.5 percent, Zip is gaining more than 2 percent and Xero is up almost 2 percent, while WiseTech Global is edging down 0.5 percent and Appen is losing almost 2 percent.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking is losing more than 2 percent, while National Australia bank, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are edging down 0.1 percent each.
Among gold miners, Evolution Mining and Newmont are losing almost 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining is down more than 1 percent and Genesis Minerals is declining more than 2 percent. Northern Star Resources is gaining more than 1 percent.
In other news, shares in Sims Ltd. are surging more than 9 percent as it expected 2026 fiscal year underlying EBIT of between $350 million and $400 million as strong non-ferrous metal prices and buoyant memory chip markets support earnings.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.710 on Wednesday.
Market Analysis
Australian Market Extends Early Gains In Mid-market
2026-03-18 03:28:34
