Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - Adding to the gains in the previous three sessions, the Australian stock market is notably higher on Tuesday, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 7,700 level, with gains across most sectors led by technology stocks as well as mining and energy stocks amid firmer commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 34.70 points or 0.45 percent to 7,717.10, after touching a high of 7,741.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 39.10 points or 0.49 percent to 7,991.40. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is gaining almost 2 percent, while Fortescue Metals, Mineral Resources and BHP Group are adding more than 1 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is gaining almost 1 percent and Origin Energy is adding almost 2 percent. Beach energy and Santos are flat.

Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global and Xero are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Zip is adding more than 4 percent and Afterpay owner Block is advancing almost 5 percent. Appen is flat.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Gold Road Resources, Newmont and Northern Star resources are adding more than 1 percent each, while Evolution Mining is gaining almost 1 percent and Resolute Mining is advancing more than 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is gaining almost 1 percent, Westpac is adding more than 1 percent and National Australia Bank is edging up 0.3 percent, while ANZ Banking is losing 1.5 percent.

In other news, shares in Sims slumped more than 9 percent after the metal recycler issued a major profit warning and reportedly set to miss guidance by 90 percent.

Shares in HMC Capital rallied almost 9 percent after the alternative asset manager said in a Macquarie conference presentation that it's operating earnings per share for financial year 2024 was tracking 21 percent higher at 40 cents.

In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting 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 $0.664 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move to the upside during trading on Monday, extending the rally seen to close out the previous week. With the continued advance, the major averages reached their best closing levels in almost a month.

The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached new highs for the session going into the close of trading, The Nasdaq surged 192.92 points or 1.2 percent to 16,349.25, the S&P 500 jumped 52.95 points or 1.0 percent to 5,180.74 and the Dow climbed 176.59 points or 0.5 percent to 38,862.27.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1.0 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both rose by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices settled modestly higher on Monday following Saudi Arabia's decision to hike its selling price for the European and Asian markets. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $0.37 or 0.47 percent at $78.48 a barrel.