The Australian stock market is advancing on Wednesday following the record highs overnight on Wall Street and as investors shrugged off news about North Korea launching a ballistic missile earlier in the day.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is adding 40.30 points or 0.67 percent to 6,024.60, off a high of 6,031.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 41.50 points or 0.68 percent to 6,108.20.
Among the major miners, BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals are advancing more than 1 percent each, while Rio Tinto is adding almost 1 percent even as iron ore prices fell overnight.
The big four banks - ANZ Banking, National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac - are higher in a range of 0.8 percent to 1.2 percent.
Oil stocks are also mostly higher despite crude oil prices edging lower. Woodside Petroleum is adding 0.2 percent and Santos is rising 0.3 percent, while Oil Search is down 0.6 percent.
Meanwhile, gold miners are mixed after gold prices edged lower overnight. Newcrest Mining is adding more than 1 percent, while Evolution Mining is losing more than 1 percent.
Collins Foods reported a 17.5 percent decrease in half-year profit on acquisition and closure costs, while underlying net profit rose 3.7 percent. The KFC franchisee's shares are losing more than 6 percent.
Bingo Industries' shares are gaining more than 14 percent after the waste disposal company said it raised A$106 million in an institutional offer to fund its recently announced acquisitions.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is slightly lower against the U.S. dollar, which strengthened following positive data and comments from the incoming Federal Reserve chair. In early trades, the local unit was quoted at US$0.7600, down from $0.7613 on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks rallied on Tuesday, partly due to news that the Republican tax reform bill was approved by the Senate Budget Committee. Traders also reacted positively to remarks by Federal Reserve Chair nominee Jerome Powell, who testified before the Senate Banking Committee.
The Dow surged up 255.93 points or 1.1 percent to 23,836.71, the Nasdaq climbed 33.84 points or 0.5 percent to 6,912.36 and the S&P 500 jumped 25.62 points or 1 percent to 2,627.04.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on Tuesday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index climbed by 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.
Crude oil futures inched lower Tuesday ahead of U.S. inventories data. January WTI oil fell $0.12 or 0.2 percent to settle at $57.99 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
by RTT Staff Writer
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