Australian Market Significantly Higher

(RTTNews) - Recouping the losses in the previous two sessions, the Australian stock market is trading significantly higher on Tuesday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving well above the 7,700 level, with gains in gold miners, technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 68.90 points or 0.90 percent to 7,769.20, after touching a high of 7,769.20 earlier. The broader S&P/ASX 200 Index is up 62.20 points or 0.78 percent to 8,005.80. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are edging up 0.2 percent each, while Mineral Resources is edging down 0.2 percent.

Fortescue Metals is declining more than 4 percent following a $1.1 billion block trade in the iron ore giant at a 6 percent discount after Monday's closing bell.

Oil stocks are mixed. Woodside Energy is edging down 0.1 percent, while Santos is edging up 0.4 percent and Origin Energy is gaining more than 1 percent.

Beach energy is declining 4.5 percent after the company said it will slash spending, operating costs and jobs and raise the bar on returns for projects in a bid to improve the company's performance following a strategic review.

Among tech stocks, Appen is advancing more than 3 percent, Zip is adding more than 2 percent and WiseTech Global is up more than 1 percent, while Afterpay owner Block and Xero are gaining almost 1 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Gold Road Resources, Newmont and Resolute Mining are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Evolution Mining is edging up 0.1 percent. Northern Star resources is edging down 0.5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Westpac is edging up 0.4 percent and ANZ Banking Bank is adding almost 1 percent.

In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Tuesday and then announce its decision on interest rates. The RBA is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 4.35 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.662 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction early in the session on Monday but moved notably higher over course of the trading day. The major averages all moved to the upside, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reaching new record closing highs.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the close but remained firmly positive. The Nasdaq jumped 168.14 points or 1.0 percent to 17,857.02, the S&P 500 advanced 41.63 points or 0.8 percent to 5,473.23 and the Dow climbed 188.94 points or 0.5 percent to 38,778.10.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index rose 0.4 percent and the French CAC 40 Index advanced 0.9 percent.

Crude oil prices rose to a fresh six-week high on Monday on hopes about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for July ended higher by $1.88 or about 1.25 percent at $80.33 a barrel, the highest settlement since April 29.