The Australian stock market is modestly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains of the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 7,000 mark near 14-month highs, as surging commodity prices saw strength in energy and mining stocks. Traders also ignored the negative cues overnight from Wall Street while they also await the RBA's release of the minutes of its monetary policy meeting later in the day.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 41.60 points or 0.59 percent to 7,065.20, after touching a high of 7,071.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 40.90 points or 0.56 percent to 7,296.70. Australian ended slightly higher on Monday.
Among the major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are adding more than 1 percent each. OZ Minerals is surging more than 5 percent.
Among oil stocks are higher after crude oil prices rose overnight. Oil Search, Woodside Petroleum and Santos are gaining almost 2 percent each, while Origin Energy is edging up 0.5 percent.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ Banking are gaining almost 1 percent each, while National Australia Bank and Westpac are edging up 0.4 percent each.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay is losing almost 2 percent, Xero is down more than 1 percent and WiseTech Global is edging down 0.4 percent, while Appen is edging up 0.1 percent.
Gold miners are higher as gold prices hit near five-month highs overnight. Newcrest Mining and Northern Star Resources are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Evolution Mining is adding more than 4 percent, Gold Road Resources is up almost 3 percent and Resolute is gaining almost 5 percent.
In other news, shares in Nuix are surging almost 10 percent after its management met investors to quell fears that its product portfolio was losing ground to competitors. A joint investigation also revealed problems with Nuix's governance and questions over the quality of its financial accounts before its IPO in December 2020.
Shares in St Barabara are plunging more than 10 percent after the miner cut its full-year production guidance and also expects costs to rise after a soft performance at its Leonora operations in Western Australia, and at the Simberi project in Papua New Guinea.
Shares in Charter Hall Long WALE have been halted as the real estate investment trust launches a $250 million capital raise for acquiring a stake in four properties across three states.
Cement fibre giant James Hardie said it plans to resume ordinary dividends in November after delivering a 9 percent increase in full-year profit to $338.2 million. Global sales were also up 12 percent to $3.73 billion. The stock is down more than 3 percent.
In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will release the minutes from its monetary policy meeting on May 4. At the meeting, the RBA kept its policy stance unchanged at the record low 0.10 percent as widely expected and said it will review the asset purchase program at its July meeting. The bank raised its growth projections and lowered the unemployment rate forecast.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.779 on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks regained ground after an early move to the downside on Monday but still ended the day in negative territory. The major averages partly offset the notable rebound seen to close out the previous week.
After falling by as much as 200 points, the Dow ended the day down by just 54.34 points or 0.2 percent at 34,327.79. The Nasdaq slid 50.93 points or 0.4 percent to 13,379.05 and the S&P 500 fell 10.56 points or 0.3 percent to 4,163.29.
The major European markets also saw modest weakness on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index dipped by 0.3 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index edged down by 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices rose sharply Monday on hopes energy demand will pick up as the U.S. and European economies show signs of a quick recovery from the pandemic. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June rose $0.90 or 1.4 percent at $66.27 a barrel.
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