Australian Market Significantly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading significantly higher on Tuesday, snapping the five-session losing streak, following the mixed cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,300 level, with gains in financial and technology stocks partially offset by losses in mining and energy stocks amid weaker commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 64.80 points or 0.79 percent to 8,314.30, after touching a high of 8,314.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 63.60 points or 0.75 percent to 8,557.60. Australian stocks closed notably lower on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group and Mineral Resources are edging down 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are losing almost 1 percent each.

Oil stocks are mostly lower. Origin Energy is edging down 0.2 percent, Santos is losing more than 1 percent and Woodside Energy is declining 1.5 percent, while Beach energy is edging up 0.4 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block, Zip, WiseTech Global and Xero are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Appen is edging down 0.5 percent.

Gold miners are mixed. Gold Road Resources and Resolute Mining are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Evolution Mining is edging up 0.3 percent. Newmont is losing almost 1 percent and Northern Star resources is declining more than 1 percent.

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

In other news, shares in Karoon Energy are tumbling more than 7 percent after the oil and gas producer downgraded its production guidance.

Shares in IT services and solutions provider Data#3 are plunging more than 9 percent after the announcement of changes to its partnership with Microsoft in Australia, including a reduction in the incentives earned.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.637 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Monday following the lackluster performance seen during last Friday's session. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the charge, surging to a new record closing high.

The Nasdaq pulled back off its best levels going into the close but still ended the day up 247.17 points or 1.2 percent at 20,173.89. The S&P 500 also climbed 22.99 points or 0.4 percent to 6,074.08, while the narrower Dow bucked the uptrend and fell 110.58 points or 0.3 percent to 43,717.48.

Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.7 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both fell by 0.5 percent.

Crude oil prices fell on Monday amid concerns about the outlook for demand after weak economic data from China and the threat of tariffs. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January closed down $0.58 at $70.71 a barrel.