Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market modestly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving to nearly the 6,900 level, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, led by some gains in technology, materials and energy stocks, even as traders cautiously await the RBA's rate decision later in the day.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 32.70 points or 0.48 percent to 6,896.20, after touching a high of 6,902.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 35.50 points or 0.50 percent to 7,090.30. Australian stocks closed sharply higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, Fortescue Metals is gaining more than 2 percent and BHP Group is edging up 0.4 percent, while Rio Tinto and OZ Minerals are adding almost 1 percent each. Mineral Resources is losing almost 2 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is gaining more than 1 percent, Origin Energy is surging more than 4 percent and Woodside Energy is adding almost 1 percent, while Santos is edging down 0.5 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is edging up 0.3 percent, WiseTech Global is up almost 1 percent, Zip is surging almost 6 percent and Appen is adding more than 1 percent, while Xero is losing almost 2 percent.

Gold miners are mixed. Gold Road Resources is gaining almost 1 percent and Resolute Mining is advancing 1.5 percent, while Newcrest Mining and Evolution Mining are edging down 0.2 percent each. Northern Star Resources is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are edging down 0.2 percent, while National Australia Bank and Westpac are losing almost 1 percent each. In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Tuesday and then announce its decision on interest rates. The RBA is expected to hike its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points, to 2.85 percent from 2.60 percent.

The manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in October, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Tuesday with a manufacturing PMI score of 52.7. That's down from 53.5 in September, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.640 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks drifted lower on Monday with investors making cautious moves, as they continued to react to recent quarterly earnings updates from big-name companies and looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's policy announcement due on Wednesday.

The major averages all ended on a negative note. The Dow ended the session with a loss of 128.85 points or 0.39 percent at 32,732.95. The S&P 500 settled with a loss of 29.08 points or 0.75 percent at 3,871.98, while the Nasdaq dropped 114.31 points or 1.03 percent to settle at 10,988.15.

The major European markets ended mixed on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.66 percent, Germany's DAX edged up 0.08 percent, and France's CAC 40 ended lower by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices fell Monday amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand from China following a fresh surge in COVID-19 cases. A rise in oil output in the U.S., and a firm dollar also weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended down $1.37 or 1.6 percent at $86.53 a barrel.