Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - Snapping the two days of declines, the Australian shares are trading notably higher on Tuesday, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 stayed above the 7,000 mark, with gains across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks.

The Reserve Bank of Australia released the minutes from its October 3 monetary policy meeting. At the meeting, the RBA kept its key interest rate unchanged at 4.10 percent for a fourth time, but not before mulling another quarter point hike. This was the first policy session chaired by the new governor Michele Bullock.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 33.70 points or 0.48 percent to 7,060.20, after touching a high of 7,100.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 32.30 points or 0.45 percent to 7,246.90. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Monday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos and Beach energy are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Origin Energy is edging up 0.1 percent and Woodside Energy is flat.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and Xero are gaining 2.5 percent each, while WiseTech Global is adding 1.5 percent and Zip is surging more than 7 percent. Appen is losing almost 2 percent. Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star resources and Gold Road Resources are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each, while Evolution Mining is adding more than 1 percent and Newcrest Mining is up almost 1 percent. Resolute Mining is slipping more than 5 percent.

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

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.635 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks rallied on Monday as investors indulged in some strong buying at several counters ahead of earnings updates from several top ranked companies, shrugging off rising bond yields and concerns about the ongoing war in the Middle East.

The major averages all ended on a firm note. The Dow ended higher by 314.25 points or 0.93 percent at 33,984.54. The S&P 500 advanced 45.85 points or 1.06 percent at 4,373.63, while the Nasdaq settled at 13,567.98, gaining 160.75 points or 1.2 percent.

The major European markets also ended modestly higher despite seeing some weakness during the course of the session. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.41 percent, Germany's DAX climbed 0.34 percent, and France's CAC 40 ended higher by 0.27 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Monday, retreating after rising sharply in the previous session amid fears that the ongoing Israel-Hamas war might fuel a wider conflict in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November shed $1.03 or 1.2 percent at $86.66 a barrel.