Australian Market Maintains Early Gains In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is maintaining its early gains in mid-market trading on Tuesday, reversing some of the losses in the previous two sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Monday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving well above the 8,550.00 level, with gains across most sectors led by energy and technology stocks. Iron ore miners were the only weak spot.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 89.70 points or 1.06 percent to 8,595.00, after touching a high of 8,604.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 81.90 points or 0.94 percent to 8,817.30. Australian stocks closed sharply lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto, Fortescue and BHP Group are losing almost 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is edging up 0.1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is adding almost 2 percent and Origin Energy is advancing more than 1 percent, while Santos and Woodside Energy are gaining almost 1 percent each.

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

Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Newmont is gaining almost 2 percent and Genesis Minerals is advancing almost 3 percent. Resolute Mining is losing more than 1 percent.

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

In economic news, Australia's Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index rose 3.5 percent in May to 83.0, rebounding from April's 2-1/2-year low of 80.1.

The Reserve Bank of Australia will also release the minutes from its May 5 monetary policy meeting. At the meeting, the RBA raised its key interest rate by a quarter-point to 4.35 percent as risks to inflation remain tilted to the upside. This decision followed similar quarter-point increases in February and March.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.714 on Tuesday.