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 index is moving well above the 9,100 level, with gains across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 114.70 points or 1.27 percent to 9,144.40, after touching a high of 9,145.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 117.20 points or 1.28 percent to 9,280.60. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Monday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is gaining almost 1 percent, while Beach energy, Origin Energy and Santos is edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each.

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

Gold miners are mostly higher. Newmont is gaining almost 1 percent and Genesis Minerals is advancing almost 3 percent, while Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are adding more than 1 percent each. Resolute Mining is losing almost 2 percent.

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

In economic news, Australia's Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index fell 2.7 percent on month to 78.2 in November 2026, its lowest level since November 2022. The decline extended a 4.7 percent drop in the prior month, marking a third straight monthly fall, amid persistent cost-of-living pressures and higher borrowing costs, which continued to weigh on mortgage affordability.

Meanwhile, Australia's NAB Business Confidence Index edged down to -15 in October 2026 from a marginally revised -14 in the previous month, marking its lowest level since April and the eighth consecutive month of negative sentiment.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.692 on Tuesday.