Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Tuesday, reversing some of the losses in the previous two sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,500 level, with gains is gold miners and energy stocks partially offset by weakness in iron ore miners and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 18.80 points or 0.22 percent to 8,501.60, after touching a high of 8,515.30 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 21.50 points or 0.25 percent to 8,769.10. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is edging down 0.3 percent and Mineral Resources is declining almost 3 percent, while Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are losing almost 1 percent each.

Oil stocks are higher. Origin Energy is gaining almost 2 percent, Santos is edging up 0.1 percent, Woodside Energy is adding almost 1 percent and Beach energy is advancing more than 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing 1.5 percent and WiseTech Global is declining more than 2 percent, while Xero is up more than 1 percent, Zip is advancing more than 3 percent and Appen is adding more than 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star resources and Newmont are gaining more than 3 percent each, while Gold Road Resources and Resolute Mining are adding almost 1 percent each. Evolution Mining is advancing 3.5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging down 0.2 percent, while Westpac ANZ Banking and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.2 to 0.5 percent each.

In other news, shares in Seven West Media Ltd., SGH Ltd. and Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd. are gaining 3.0, 6.3 and 11.4 percent, respectively, after the media companies reported their half-yearly results.

Shares in Charter Hall Social Infrastructure are surging 9.5 percent after reporting its half-yearly results.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.627 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks continue to turn in a strong performance throughout the trading day on Monday after moving mostly higher early in the session. With the upward move, the major averages partly offset the steep losses posted last Friday.

The major averages moved roughly sideways in afternoon trading, hovering in positive territory. The Nasdaq jumped 190.87 points or 1.0 percent to 19,714.27, the S&P 500 climbed 40.45 points or 0.7 percent to 6,066.44 and the Dow rose 167.01 points or 0.4 percent to 44,470.41.

The major European markets all also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.8 percent, the German DAX Index increased by 0.6 percent and the French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Monday amid concerns about possible supply shortage due to the latest sanctions by U.S. on Iran's crude exports. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March settled higher by $1.32 or about 1.85% at $72.32 a barrel.