Australian Market Trims Early Gains In Mid-market

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trimming its early gains in mid-market trading on Tuesday, but extending the gains in the previous session, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,850 level to fresh all-time high, with gains in financial and energy stocks partially offset by weakness in mining and technology stocks.

Expectations of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia later in the day and optimism over a renewed US-China trade truce is aiding market sentiment.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 12.10 points or 0.14 percent to 8,856.90, after hitting a low of 8,828.80 and a fresh all-time high of 8,867.60 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 7.90 points or 0.09 percent to 9,125.50. Australian stocks closed modestly higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is edging up 0.1 percent, while Mineral Resources is losing more than 1 percent, Fortescue is declining almost 1 percent and Rio Tinto is edging down 0.5 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Origin Energy and Santos are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Beach energy is advancing almost 1 percent. Woodside Energy is edging down 0.3 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is declining almost 3 percent and Xero is declining more than 2 percent, while WiseTech Global and Zip are edging down 0.2 to 0.3 percent each. Appen is gaining more than 2 percent.

Gold miners are mostly lower. Northern Star resources is declining almost 2 percent and Resolute Mining is slipping more than 3 percent, while Gold Road Resources and Evolution Mining are losing more than 1 percent each. Newmont is edging up 0.4 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Australia Bank are edging up 0.1 to 0.4 percent each, while ANZ Banking is adding more than 2 percent.

In other news, shares in Life360 are soaring more than 8 percent after reporting strong revenue growth in the second quarter.

Shares in SGH are tumbling more than 10 percent after it lifted total dividends by 17 percent following a $486 million profit in the past fiscal year.

In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting this morning and then announce its decision on interest rates. The RBA is expected lower its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points, to 3.60 percent from 3.85 percent.

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