Australian Shares Rise on Bargain Hunters, Higher Oil Prices

Australian shares again rose on Wednesday, aided by investors looking for cheap stocks following Monday's sell-off and by gains in crude oil prices.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index went up 19.20 points, or 0.3%, to 7,699.80.

"Equities bounced as dip buyers came into the fray," said Brian Martin and Daniel Hynes, analysts at ANZ Research.

Meanwhile, crude oil prices recovered amid a rebound in risk appetite across broader financial markets. "Signs of potential tightness in the physical market also provided some support," Martin and Hynes noted.

This helped push the energy sector to gains of 1.2% in Wednesday's session on the Australian bourse.

Meanwhile, Australian industries slowed contraction in July, with the Ai Group Australian Industry Index rising five points to negative 20.7. The index has remained in contraction territory for the past 27 months as the new orders index saw little growth month on month, ticking up 0.2 to negative 34, and activity/sales rose 2.5 to negative 28.6, the report said.

Living costs for Australian households rose in the second quarter, with all five living cost indexes posting gains of between 1.2% and 1.4%. The main contributors to the increase were insurance and financial services as well as food and non-alcoholic beverages.

In company news, HighCom (ASX:HCL) swung to a profit in the fiscal second half, with positive earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of about AU$2 million. Shares of the ballistic armor manufacturer surged 29% Wednesday.

LBT Innovations (ASX:LBT) signed an agreement to sell five Automated Plate Assessment System Independence instruments to AstraZeneca and provide maintenance and support services over seven years in a deal valued at AU$3.4 million to AU$4.1 million. Shares of the medical technology company closed 20% higher.