The Australian stock market is advancing on Wednesday for a third straight day following the overnight gains on Wall Street amid easing concerns about the retail trading frenzy, upbeat corporate earnings results, and optimism about more U.S. fiscal stimulus.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is adding 63.90 points or 0.94 percent to 6,826.50, after touching a high of 6,830.00. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 62.80 points or 0.89 percent to 7,090.30. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Tuesday.
In the banking sector, National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank are rising in a range of 1.7 percent to 2.5 percent.
Oil stocks are higher after crude oil prices rose to a one-year high overnight. Oil Search, Santos and Woodside Petroleum are all advancing more than 2 percent each.
In the tech sector, Appen is rising almost 2 percent, WiseTech Global is advancing more than 1 percent and Afterpay is adding 0.6 percent.
Meanwhile the major miners are lower. BHP Group is losing more than 2 percent, Rio Tinto is lower by more than 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is down 0.5 percent.
Gold miners are mixed after gold prices fell overnight. Evolution Mining is declining 0.5 percent, while Newcrest Mining is up 0.5 percent.
In economic news, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that the total number of building permits issued in Australia jumped a seasonally adjusted 10.9 percent on month in December, coming in at 19,537. That follows the 3.3 percent monthly increase in November.
The latest survey from Markit Economics showed that the services sector in Australia continued to expand in January, albeit at a slower rate, with a services PMI score of 55.6. That's down from 57.0 in December, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that Markit's composite PMI slipped to 55.9 from 56.6 in December.
On Wall Street, stocks closed sharply higher on Tuesday, extending gains from the previous session amid easing concerns about the retail trading frenzy. The also benefited from a positive reaction to the latest corporate earnings results and remained optimistic about more fiscal stimulus after President Joe Biden met with a group of ten Republican Senators who have offered a counterproposal to his $1.9 trillion relief plan.
The Dow surged up 475.57 points or 1.6 percent to 30,687.48, the Nasdaq jumped 209.38 points or 1.6 percent to 13,612.78 and the S&P 500 shot up 52.45 points or 1.4 percent to 3,826.31.
The major European markets also added on Tuesday to the previous session's strong gains. While the French CAC 40 Index soared by 1.9 percent, the German DAX Index surged up by 1.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.8 percent.
Crude oil prices gained on Tuesday, extending a recent advance, as a move by Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries or OPEC and their allies to cut production helped ease worries about any excess supply in the market. WTI crude futures for March ended up $1.21 or about 2.3 percent at $54.76 a barrel, the highest settlement in more than a year.
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