Australian Market Significantly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading significantly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving up to near the 8,000 mark, with gains is financial, energy and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 53.70 points or 0.68 percent to 7,990.60, after touching a high of 8,994.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 55.60 points or 0.68 percent to 8,213.50. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Mineral Resources are edging down 0.1 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is declining almost 1 percent. Rio Tinto is edging up 0.2 percent.

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

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 1 percent, Xero is adding more than 2 percent and WiseTech Global is advancing almost 2 percent, while Appen is losing almost 1 percent and Zip is edging down 0.3 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star resources is losing almost 1 percent and Newmont is declining more than 1 percent, while Evolution Mining is edging up 0.3 percent, Resolute Mining is gaining almost 3 percent and Gold Road Resources is soaring more than 12 percent after rejecting an unsolicited $3.3 billion bid from rival Gold Fields.

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

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.628 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a fine performance on Monday, with the technology sector posting more pronounced gains. The market stayed positive as the mood remained bullish right through. Investors reacted to reports President Donald Trump plans to hold back some of the reciprocal tariffs set to take effect on April 2.

The major averages all closed on a high note. The Dow settled higher by 597.97 points or 1.42 percent, at 42,583.32. The S&P 500 closed up 100.01 points or 1.76 percent, at 5,767.57, while the Nasdaq ended stronger by 404.54 points or 2.27 percent, at 18,188.59.

Meanwhile, the major European markets failed to hold early gains and ended mixed on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed 0.01 percent down and France's CAC 40 edged down 0.02 percent, while Germany's DAX gained 0.19 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Monday after Trump announced a 25 percent secondary tariff on countries purchasing oil or gas from Venezuela. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May settled higher by $0.83 or 1.22 percent at $69.11 a barrel.