Australian Market Significantly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market significantly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 7,000 mark, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight, boosted by gains in mining and energy stocks amid firmer commodity prices. Banking shares were also up amid easing worries about the global banking sector woes.

Global stocks rallied after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. or FDIC announced an agreement, under which First-Citizens Bank & Trust Co., affiliated to First Citizens BancShares, Inc., will buy all deposits and loans of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, N. A. out of FDIC receivership.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 77.90 points or 1.12 percent to 7,039.90, after touching a high of 7,047.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 81.00 points or 1.13 percent to 7,224.80. Australian stocks closed slightly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Mineral Resources is surging almost 8 percent and Rio Tinto is up almost 1 percent. OZ Minerals is flat.

Oil stocks are higher. Beach energy is gaining almost 5 percent, Origin Energy is up more than 1 percent, Santos is adding more than 3 percent and Woodside Energy is advancing almost 4 percent. Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is surging 6.5 percent and WiseTech Global is adding almost 1 percent, while Zip is losing almost 4 percent. Appen and Xero are down more than 1 percent each.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star Resources is losing almost 2 percent, Newcrest Mining is edging down 0.5 percent and Evolution Mining is declining 1.5 percent, while Resolute Mining is adding almost 1 percent. Gold Road Resources is flat.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are adding almost 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank and Westpac are up more than 1 percent each.

In other news, shares in Liontown Resources are skyrocketing more than 60 percent after it rejected a A$2.5 per share buyout offer from lithium producer Albemarle Corp which valued the company at A$5.5 billion.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.667 on Tuesday.

On the Wall Street, stocks indexes turned in a mixed performance during trading on Monday after posting strong gains last week. While the major averages all moved to the upside in early trading, the tech-heavy Nasdaq swung back and forth across the unchanged line before closing in negative territory.

The Nasdaq slid 55.12 points or 0.5 percent to 11,768.83, while the Dow climbed 194.55 points or 0.6 percent to 32,432.08 and the S&P 500 rose 6.54 points or 0.2 percent to 3,977.53.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index jumped by 1.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both advanced by 0.9 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Monday amid concerns about oil supply after Russian President Vladmir Putin said he will station tactical nuclear weapons in ally Belarus. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May surged $3.55 or 5.1 percent at $72.81 a barrel.