Australian Markets Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is notably higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving well above the 8,700 level, with gains in mining and technology stocks partially offset by weakness in energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 40.60 points or 0.47 percent to 8,727.00, after touching a high of 8,729.50 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 40.70 points or 0.46 percent to 8,899.90. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and BHP Group are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is advancing almost 3 percent and Fortescue is adding almost 2 percent.

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

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining more than 3 percent, Xero is adding more than 1 percent and Zip is up almost 1 percent, while WiseTech Global is losing almost 2 percent and Appen is edging down 0.4 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Resolute Mining and Genesis Minerals are advancing almost 2 percent each. Newmont is edging up 0.2 percent.

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

In economic news, Australia's Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index fell 4.7 percent on month to a six-month low of 80.4 in October 2026, slowing from a 5.2 percent decline in the prior month while marking a second straight month of decline.

Australia's ANZ-Indeed Job Ads rose 2.2 percent on month in September 2026, slowing from a marginally revised 2.6 percent gain in the previous month despite marking the third straight month of expansion.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.697 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a strong performance throughout much of the trading session on Monday before giving back some ground going into the end of the day. The tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a strong move to the upside, reaching a new record closing high.

The major averages ended the day off their highs of the session but still in positive territory. The Nasdaq jumped 286.45 points or 1.1 percent to 27,477.31, the S&P 500 advanced 51.23 points or 0.7 percent to 7,773.95 and the Dow rose 90.94 points or 0.2 percent to 51,267.90.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.8 percent, the German DAX Index crept up by 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent.

Crude oil prices moved sharply lower on Monday amid indications that exports from the Middle East are returning to pre-war levels despite the ongoing conflict between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate for November delivery sank $1.21 or 1.3 percent to $89.90 a barrel.