Australian Markets Modestly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Tuesday, reversing some of the losses in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving above the 9,250 level, with gains in mining and energy stocks partially offset by weakness in financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 17.60 points or 0.19 percent to 9,250.20, after touching a high of 9,250.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 16.70 points or 0.18 percent to 9,440.80. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto, Fortescue and BHP Group are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is losing almost 1 percent.

Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is surging more than 5 percent, Origin Energy is edging up 0.3 percent, Santos is gaining almost 4 percent and Woodside Energy is adding more than 2 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is declining almost 2 percent, Zip is losing more than 1 percent and Appen is down almost 1 percent, while WiseTech Global is up more than 1 percent and Xero is gaining almost 1 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is gaining more than 1 percent, Genesis Minerals is adding almost 2 percent, Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.3 percent, Newmont is advancing more than 4 percent and Resolute Mining is rising almost 3 percent.

Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking is losing almost 1 percent, while National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each.

In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will wrap up it monetary policy meeting on Tuesday and then announce its decision on interest rates. The RBA is expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 4.35 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.706 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Monday following the strong performance seen during the previous week. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before closing slightly lower.

The Dow slipped 60.95 points or 0.1 percent to 53,975.98, the Nasdaq fell 85.26 points or 0.3 percent to 26,605.36 and the S&P 500 edged down 4.53 points or 0.1 percent to 7,753.11.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index closed just above the unchanged line and the French CAC 40 Index crept up by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices skyrocketed as a result on Monday as expectations of an early reopening of the Strait of Hormuz began to fade, increasing concerns of military re-escalation. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was up $4.07 or 5.21 percent at $82.25 per barrel.