Australian Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading slightly higher on Tuesday after opening in the red, extending the slight gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying near the 8,550 level, with gains in technology and mining partially offset by weakness in financial and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 11.00 points or 0.13 percent to 8,559.40, after hitting a low of 8,533.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 14.30 points or 0.16 percent to 8,789.30. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Monday.

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

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy and Santos are edging down 0.2 to 0.4 percent each, while Woodside Energy is losing almost 1 percent. Beach energy is edging up 0.5 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 4 percent, Zip is advancing more than 4 percent, Xero is edging up 0.4 percent and Appen is adding more than 1 percent, while WiseTech Global is losing almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star resources is gaining more than 1 percent, Resolute Mining is surging almost 6 percent, Newmont is advancing almost 4 percent and Gold Road Resources is up almost 1 percent, while Evolution Mining is edging down 0.2 percent.

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

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.651 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks gave back some ground over the course of the trading day on Monday but continued to turn in a strong performance after moving sharply higher early in the session. With the upward move, the markets largely offset the steep losses seen during Friday's session.

The major averages all ended the day firmly in positive territory, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq posting a standout gain. The Nasdaq jumped 294.39 points or 1.5 percent to 19,701.21, the S&P 500 advanced 56.14 points or 0.9 percent to 6,033.11 and the Dow climbed 317.30 points or 0.8 percent at 42,515.09.

The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both advanced by 0.8 percent.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Monday after reports that Iran signaled its readiness to end its hostility with Israel. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for July delivery closed down by $1.21 to settle at $71.77 per barrel.