Australian Market Trims Early Gains In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trimming its early gains in mid-market trading on Tuesday, reversing the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying just below the 7,900 level, with gains across most sectors led by mining and energy stocks amid spiking commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 38.40 points or 0.49 percent to 7,881.80, after touching a high of 7,919.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 32.30 points or 0.40 percent to 8,185.50. Australian stocks closed sharply lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 2 percent, Rio Tinto is up more than 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is advancing more than 2 percent, while Mineral Resources is edging down 0.2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy is adding almost 2 percent, while Beach energy, Woodside Energy and Santos are gaining almost 1 percent each.

Among tech stocks, WiseTech Global is edging up 0.3 percent and Zip is gaining more than 1 percent, while Xero is edging down 0.1 percent and Appen is losing almost 4 percent. Afterpay owner Block is flat.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is gaining more than 2 percent, Northern Star resources is edging up 0.1 percent, Newmont is gaining more than 1 percent and Gold Road Resources is edging up 0.5 percent, while Resolute Mining is losing more than 2 percent.

Among the big four banks, , National Australia Bank is edging up 0.2 percent and ANZ Banking is gaining almost 1 percent, while Westpac is losing almost 1 percent. Commonwealth Bank is flat.

In other news, shares in AVJennings are surging more than 8 percent after the homebuilder announced US real estate giant Proprium Capital and its local development arm, Avid Property, would acquire 100 percent in its shares.

In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting and then announce its decision on interest rates. The RBA is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate steady at 4.10 percent.

The manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in March, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Tuesday with a manufacturing PMI score of 52.1. That's up from 50.4 in February and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the value of retail sales in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent on month in February, coming in at A$37.129 billion. That missed expectations for an increase of 0.3 percent, which would have been unchanged from the January reading. On a yearly basis, retail sales were up 3.6 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.625 on Tuesday.