ASX 200 live: Fed approval for Woodside's NW Shelf expansion; Santos likens Vic to N Korea; MinRes downgrade

Environment Minister Watt approves Woodside's four-decade extension of WA project. Economists tip two more RBA rate cuts after April inflation print. MinRes downgrade weighs.

Investors are parsing internal corporate revelations and economic updates on Wednesday. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Wednesday, May 28. The ASX 200 index closed 0.1 per cent lower to 8396.90 points with heavyweight banks and miners offsetting gains in energy and tech stocks.

Wall Street's major indexes rallied on US-EU trade talks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 741 points, while the S&P rose more than 2 per cent, its biggest jump since since May 12, and the tech-focused Nasdaq rose 2.5 per cent boosted by Nvidia's 3 per cent gain a day before its highly-anticipated earnings reveal.

Cryptocurrency giant bitcoin was below $US109,000 at 5pm AEST.

The Aussie dollar was trading around US64.32.

Originally published as ASX 200 live: Fed approval for Woodside's NW Shelf expansion; Santos likens Vic to N Korea; MinRes downgrade