Australian Markets Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading modestly higher on Tuesday, reversing some of the losses in the previous three sessions, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving well above the 8,800 level, with gains in iron ore miner stocks partially offset by weakness in gold miners and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 24.80 points or 0.28 percent to 8,840.90, after touching a high of 8,849.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 21.50 points or 0.24 percent to 9,052.70. Australian stocks closed slightly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, Mineral Resources is edging up 0.3 percent, while Fortescue, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are gaining almost 1 percent each.

Oil stocks are mixed. Beach energy and Santos are edging up 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while Origin Energy and Woodside Energy are edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 1 percent, Zip is edging down 0.3 percent and Xero is declining more than 2 percent, while WiseTech Global is advancing almost 4 percent. Appen is flat.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources is declining almost 2 percent. Evolution Mining is losing more than 1 percent and Newmont is edging down 0.5 percent, while Resolute Mining is slipping more than 2 percent and Genesis Minerals is down almost 1 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are edging down 0.1 to 0.2 percent each, while National Australia Bank is gaining almost 1 percent and Westpac is edging up 0.3 percent.

In economic news, the manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in June, and at a faster rate, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Tuesday with a manufacturing PMI score of 51.2. That's up from 50.7 in May and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The survey also showed that the services PMI improved to 49.9 from 48.7 and the composite PMI moved up to 49.8 from 48.7.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.699 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly lower during trading on Monday following the strong performance seen during last Friday's session with trading resuming following the long holiday weekend. The tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a significant move to the downside.

The Nasdaq saw continued weakness late in the day, closing down 351.33 points or 1.3 percent at 26,166.60. The S&P 500 also fell 27.79 points or 0.4 percent to 7,472.79, while the narrower Dow bucked the downtrend and rose 148.01 points or 0.3 percent to 51,712.71.

The major European markets all ended the day mixed. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.7 percent and the German DAX Index climbed by 0.6 percent, although the French CAC 40 Index bucked the uptrend and fell by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices plunged on Monday even though the Iranian military says it has again closed off the Strait of Hormuz, although there are reports of commercial vessels are operating freely in the strait. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was down $1.63 or 2.13 percent at $74.97 per barrel.