Australian Market Extends Early Gains In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is extending its early gains in mid-market trading on Tuesday, adding to the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving to near the 8,850 level, with gains in financial and mining stocks partially offset by a mixed performance in technology and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 90.40 points or 1.03 percent to 8,849.80, after touching a high of 8,851.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 86.90 points or 0.96 percent to 9,179.60. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is gaining more than 2 percent, Rio Tinto is adding 2.5 percent, Mineral Resources is advancing more than 2 percent and Fortescue is up more than 1 percent. Oil stocks are mixed. Beach energy is gaining more than 1 percent and Santos is edging up 0.2 percent, while Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent and Origin Energy is declining more than 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is declining almost 2 percent and Zip is tumbling more than 6 percent. Xero and WiseTech Global are adding more than 1 percent each, while Appen is advancing almost 4 percent.

Gold miners are higher. Evolution Mining and Genesis Minerals are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Northern Star resources and Resolute Mining are advancing almost 3 percent each. Newmont is edging up 0.5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is adding more than 1 percent, while National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are gaining almost 2 percent each.

In economic news, the Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index fell 1.7 percent on month in January 2026 to a three-month low of 92.9, extending the 9.0 percent slump in December as shifting rate expectations weighed on confidence.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.671 on Tuesday.