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 two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving well above the 8,700 level, with gains in mining and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 55.20 points or 0.64 percent to 8,741.60, after touching a high of 8,753.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 50.70 points or 0.57 percent to 8,909.90. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is advancing almost 3 percent and Fortescue is adding almost 2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy and Santos are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent. Origin Energy is gaining more than 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 3 percent, Xero is adding more than 1 percent and Zip is up almost 1 percent, while WiseTech Global is losing almost 2 percent and Appen is edging down 0.4 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining and Genesis Minerals are advancing almost 2 percent each. Newmont is edging up 0.2 percent.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Commonwealth Bank are edging down 0.1 percent each, while National Australia Bank is gaining almost 1 percent and Westpac is edging up 0.3 percent.

In economic news, Australia's Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index fell 4.7 percent on month to a six-month low of 80.4 in October 2026, slowing from a 5.2 percent decline in the prior month while marking a second straight month of decline.

Australia's ANZ-Indeed Job Ads rose 2.2 percent on month in September 2026, slowing from a marginally revised 2.6 percent gain in the previous month despite marking the third straight month of expansion.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.697 on Tuesday.