Australian Markets Sharply Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is sharply higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving well above the 8,100 level, with gains across most sectors led by mining and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 112.80 points or 1.25 percent to 9,142.50, after touching a high of 9,145.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 109.80 points or 1.20 percent to 9,273.20. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group, Fortescue and Rio Tinto are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy is gaining almost 1 percent, while Beach energy, Origin Energy and Santos is edging up 0.1 to 0.3 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block and WiseTech Global are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Zip is advancing almost 4 percent and Appen is adding more than 4 percent. Xero is losing almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Newmont is gaining almost 1 percent and Genesis Minerals is advancing almost 3 percent, while Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources are adding more than 1 percent each. Resolute Mining is losing almost 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are gaining almost 2 percent each, while National Australia Bank is advancing more than 2 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.692 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a more substantial move to the upside during trading on Monday following the rebound seen during last Friday's session. The major averages all moved sharply higher, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the charge.

The major averages pulled back off their highs going into the close but still posted strong gains. The Nasdaq spiked 673.71 points or 2.7 percent to 25,253.14, the S&P 500 surged 173.08 points or 2.4 percent to 7,549.94 and the Dow jumped 1,104.02 points or 2.2 percent to 52,389.75.

The major European markets all also showed strong moves to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index surged by 1.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index shot up by 1.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1 percent.

Crude oil prices plummeted on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump downplayed the possibility for fresh strikes on Iran that diminished supply disruption concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down $3.25 or 3.58 percent at $87.58 per barrel.