Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market notably higher on Tuesday, recouping some of the losses in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,400 level, despite the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, boosted by gains in energy and technology stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 26.00 points or 0.35 percent to 7,443.80, after touching a high of 7,476.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 26.60 points or 0.35 percent to 7,641.10. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, Mineral Resources is losing more than 1 percent, while Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are edging down 0.2 percent each. BHP Group is edging up 0.1 percent and OZ Minerals is flat.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos is edging up 0.4 percent, Beach energy is adding more than 3 percent and Woodside Energy is up almost 1 percent. Origin Energy is losing more than 1 percent. Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining almost 3 percent and Zip is edging up 0.5 percent, while WiseTech Global and Xero are adding more than 2 percent each. Appen is losing almost 5 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Northern Star Resources and Newcrest Mining are edging up 0.4 to 0.5 percent each, while Resolute Mining is gaining more than 2 percent. Gold Road Resources and Evolution Mining are flat.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank, Westpac and ANZ Banking are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent, while Commonwealth Bank is flat.

In other news, shares in James Hardie are down almost 4 percent after the manufacturing company cut its profit guidance for the full year.

Shares in Ansell dropped almost 9 percent after it lowered its earnings per share guidance amid falling sales. Shares in Temple & Webster are tumbling almost 22 percent after the online homewares outlet reported a 12 percent drop in sales for the half year. It also did not pay a dividend.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.697 on Tuesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move to the upside during trading on Monday following the mixed performance seen in the previous sessions. The strength on Wall Street came as some traders looked to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels following the weakness seen last week.

The Dow jumped 376.66 points or 1.1 percent to 34,245.93, the Nasdaq surged 173.67 points or 1.5 percent to 11,891.79 and the S&P 500 shot up 46.83 points or 1.1 percent to 4,137.29.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.8 percent and the German DAX Index rose by 0.6 percent.

Crude oil prices slumped on Monday afternoon, unable to held early gains. West Texas Intermediate was down $0.43 or 0.54 percent to $79.29 per barrel, coming off a high of $80.62 earlier in the day.