The Australian stock market is trimming its early gains in mid-market moves on Wednesday, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 9,200 level, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight, with gains is mining and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in financial and energy stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 55.80 points or 0.61 percent to 9,201.60, after touching a high of 9,213.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 67.40 points or 0.72 percent to 9,379.30. Australian stocks ended sharply higher on Tuesday.
Among major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 3 percent, Fortescue is up almost 1 percent, Mineral Resources is advancing more than 3 percent and Rio Tinto is adding almost 2 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy is down almost 1 percent and Woodside Energy is declining almost 3 percent, while Beach energy and Santos are losing almost 2 percent each.
In the tech space, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 2 percent, WiseTech Global is advancing more than 3 percent, Zip is jumping almost 6 percent, Xero is adding more than 1 percent and Appen is surging almost 7 percent.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging down 0.3 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is losing more than 1 percent. National Australia bank is flat.
Among gold miners, Evolution Mining is gaining almost 2 percent and Northern Star Resources is adding almost 3 percent, while Genesis Minerals and Newmont are up more than 1 percent each. Resolute Mining is edging down 0.3 percent.
In other news, shares in Neuren Pharmaceuticals are jumping more than 17 percent after it reported upbeat financial results for the second quarter and upgrading its guidance for the full-year 2026.
Shares in IperionX are surging more than 8 percent, rebounding from a recent sell-off over plans of its ultimate parent company to be redomiciled to Texas and listed directly on the Nasdaq.
Shares in Clarity Pharmaceuticals are soaring more than 12 percent after reporting encouraging interim results from its SECuRE prostate cancer trial, showing strong PSA responses and new complete responses at higher doses.
In economic news, the services sector in Australia continued to expand in July, and at a faster rate, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Wednesday with a services PMI score of 53.6. That’s up from 50.5 in June, and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. Also, the composite PMI improved to 53.2 from 50.4 in June.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.705 on Wednesday.
Market Analysis
Australian Market Trims Early Gains In Mid-market
2026-08-05 03:25:17
