Australian Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading slightly higher on Tuesday, reversing some of the losses in the previous session, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is staying below the 8,700 level, with gains in mining and energy stocks nearly offset by weakness in financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 7.40 points or 0.09 percent to 8,675.60, after touching a high of 8,714.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 9.90 points or 0.11 percent to 8,936.10. Australian stocks closed significantly lower on Monday.

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

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

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block, Zip and Appen are losing more than 2 percent each, while Xero and WiseTech Global are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Gold Road Resources is gaining more than 1 percent, Resolute Mining is advancing almost 4 percent and Newmont is rising almost 3 percent, while Northern Star resources and Evolution Mining are adding almost 2 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are losing almost 2 percent each, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are declining almost 1 percent each.

In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will on Tuesday release the minutes from its July 8 monetary policy meeting. At the meeting, the RBA maintained its benchmark lending rate at 3.85 percent, defying expectations for a quarter-point rate cut. The current rate was the lowest in two years. Previously, the bank had reduced the rate by 25 basis points in May and February.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.652 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks continued to turn in a strong performance throughout much of the trading day on Monday before giving back ground going into the close after moving mostly higher early in the session.

Despite the late-day pullback, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 ended the session at new record closing highs. The Nasdaq rose 78.52 points or 0.4 percent to 20,974.17 and the S&P 500 inched up 8.81 points or 0.1 percent to 6,305.60, although the narrower Dow edged down 19.12 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 44,323.07.

The major European markets also ended the day mixed. While the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index inched up by 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.2 percent.

Crude oil prices slipped on Monday as investors seem concerned that heavy tariffs could block international trade and reduce demand for oil and energy. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery dipped $0.11 to $69.17 per barrel.