Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - Adding to the gains in the previous two sessions, the Australian stock market is trading modestly higher on Tuesday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying well above the 8,200 level, with gains in mining, financial and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in energy stocks amid tumbling crude oil prices. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 29.40 points or 0.36 percent to 8,250.90, after touching a high of 8,262.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 29.70 points or 0.35 percent to 8,507.90. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are edging up 0.3 to 0.5 percent each, while Mineral Resources is surging more than 5 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy and Santos are edging down 0.3 percent each, while Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent and Beach energy is declining more than 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Appen is gaining almost 4 percent, WiseTech Global is adding almost 3 percent, Afterpay owner Block rising 1.5 percent, Xero is edging up 0.2 percent and Zip is soaring more than 9 percent. Gold miners are mostly higher. Gold Road Resources and Resolute Mining are edging up 0.2 to 0.3 percent each, while Evolution Mining is gaining almost 1 percent, Newmont is adding more than 2 percent and Northern Star resources is advancing almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are gaining almost 1 percent each, while ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each.

In other news, shares in Premier Investment are rallying more than 11 precent after it agreed to sell its apparel brands business in Australia and New Zealand to Myer.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.658 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks gave back ground over the course of the trading day on Monday but managed to end the day mostly higher after showing a strong move to the upside early in the session. The major averages all finished the day in positive territory after turning in mixed performances over the two previous sessions.

The Dow advanced 273.17 points or 0.7 percent to 42,387.57, the Nasdaq climbed 48.58 points or 0.3 percent to 18,567.19 and the S&P 500 rose 15.40 points or 0.3 percent to 5,821.52.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index rose by 0.5 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Monday as concerns about supply disruptions faded after Israel avoided hitting Iranian oil facilities over the weekend. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December plunged $4.40 or 6.1 percent at $67.38 a barrel.