Australian Market Significantly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading significantly higher on Tuesday, reversing some of the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,450 level, with gains across all sectors led by mining and energy stocks amid a hike in commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 54.80 points or 0.65 percent to 8,468.90, after touching a day's high of 8,470.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 57.30 points or 0.66 percent to 8,694.80. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 1 percent, Rio Tinto is edging up 0.1 percent and Fortescue Metals is adding almost 2 percent, while Mineral Resources is losing more than 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is edging up 0.1 percent, Beach energy is gaining almost 1 percent, Woodside Energy is advancing almost 3 percent and Santos is adding more than 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Zip and Xero are edging up 0.2 to 0.3 percent each. Appen is adding more than 2 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is gaining almost 4 percent, Northern Star resources is surging almost 5 percent, Resolute Mining is adding more than 1 percent, Newmont is advancing more than 4 percent and Gold Road Resources is up 1.5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are gaining almost 1 percent each.

In other news, shares in IDP Education are plummeting more than 45 percent after the international education provider downgraded its earnings guidance as it now expects student placements to drop by up 28 to 30 percent and language testing volumes to drop 18 to 20 percent amid global policy uncertainty.

In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will on Tuesday release the minutes from its monetary policy meeting on May 20. At the meeting, the RBA cut the cash rate target to 3.85 percent from 4.10 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.649 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks came under pressure early in the session on Monday but showed a notable turnaround over the course of the trading day. The major averages climbed well off their lows of the session and into positive territory.

The major averages saw further upside going into the end of the day, reaching new highs for the session. The Nasdaq climbed 128.85 points or 0.7 percent at 19,242.61, the S&P 500 rose 24.25 points or 0.4 percent to 5,935.94 and the Dow inched up 35.41 points or 0.1 percent to 42,305.38.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. The German DAX Index fell by 0.3 percent and the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.2 percent, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed just above the unchanged line.

Crude oil prices moved sharply higher on Monday, amid escalating geopolitical tensions and reports of more U.S. sanctions on Moscow. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery shot up $1.73 or 2.9 percent to $62.52 a barrel.