Australia Market inches up ahead of Fed decision

Australia stock market finished session marginally higher on Wednesday, 02 November 2022, as investors adopted a wait-and-see attitude ahead of a major policy decision by the US Federal Reserve.

The Federal Reserve will conclude its latest policy meeting later in the day, with traders hoping for a hint from officials that they are ready to temper the speed of monetary tightening.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 9.80 points, or 0.14%, to 6,986.66. The broader All Ordinaries index added 8.25 points, or 0.12%, to 7,177.80.

The top performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 index were CORONADO GLOBAL RESOURCES INC. and PERPETUAL, up 8.8% and 5.5% respectively. The bottom performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 index were DOMINO'S PIZZA and CROMWELL, down 5.3% and 4.8% respectively.

Shares of materials and energy companies advanced on tracking rebound in commodity prices. Mining heavyweights BHP Group, Fortescue Metals Group and Rio Tinto rose between 1.7% and 3%. Energy sector major Woodside Energy advanced about 3%, while Santos climbed 2.2%.

Lithium miner Lake Resources jumped 5.2% after saying it had completed the onsite construction of a modular processing demonstration plant for its Kachi lithium project in Argentina.

Financials bucked the trend, with the three of the country's big four banks National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking, and Westpac adding between 0.2% and 0.7%. Commonwealth Bank was down 0.1% even as the lender said it would hike its loan variable interest rates by 25 basis points per annum from the end of next week, in line with the Reserve Bank's interest rate increase.

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