Australian Market Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 a tad below the 7,000 mark, following the broadly positive cues from global markets overnight, with strength across most sectors, led by energy stocks amid spiking crude oil prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 34.00 points or 0.49 percent to 6,998.50, after touching a high of 7,010.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 37.10 points or 0.52 percent to 7,245.30. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are edging up 0.4 percent each, while Mineral Resources is gaining more than 2 percent and OZ Minerals is adding almost 1 percent. BHP Group is edging down 0.5 percent.

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

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is gaining almost 2 percent, Gold Road Resources is advancing almost 4 percent, Northern Star Resources adding almost 3 percent, Resolute Mining is rising more than 4 percent and Newcrest Mining is edging up 0.5 percent.

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

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.689 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move to the upside during trading on Monday, extending the recovery rally seen last week. With the continued advance, the major averages closed higher for the fourth consecutive session.

The major averages finished the day firmly in positive territory. The Dow climbed 229.63 points or 0.7 percent to 32,381.34, the Nasdaq surged 154.10 points or 1.3 percent to 12,266.41 and the S&P 500 jumped 43.05 points or 1.1 percent to 4,110.41. The major European markets also showed strong moves to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index soared 2.4 percent, the French CAC 40 Index spiked by 2.0 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index surged by 1.7 percent.

Crude oil prices surged higher on Monday amid rising speculation about the impact of Ukraine's offensive around Kharkiv on supply of Russian oil. A weak dollar contributed as well to the jump in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended higher by $0.99 or about 1.1 percent at $87.78 a barrel.