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 7,300 level, despite the absence of fresh cues from Wall Street, which was closed overnight for a holiday. Traders are cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's monetary policy decision later in the day.
Traders also remain concerned about the rising new coronavirus infections in New South Wales and the related lockdown and restrictions. NSW recorded 18 new locally acquired cases yesterday.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 15.60 points or 0.21 percent to 7,330.60, after touching a high of 7,346.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 14.90 points or 0.20 percent to 7,603.90. Australian stocks closed marginally higher on Monday.
Among the major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Rio Tinto is up almost 1 percent. Mineral Resources and OZ Minerals are edging up 0.4 percent each.
Oil stocks are higher. Oil Search is gaining almost 3 percent, while Santos and Woodside Petroleum are up more than 2 percent each. Beach energy is adding more than 3 percent and Origin Energy is up almost 1 percent.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac are all gaining almost 1 percent each.
Westpac unveiled his latest move to simplify the bank, selling its New Zealand life insurance business for NZ$400 million ($373 million). The sale to the NZ-owned Fidelity Life Assurance Company, will lift Westpac's common equity tier 1 capital by 7 basis points.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay is edging up 0.1 percent. Appen is declining more than 3 percent, while Xero and WiseTech Global are losing almost 1 percent each.
Gold miners are mixed. Newcrest Mining is edging down 0.2 percent, while Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining are flat. Resolute Mining is gaining more than 1 percent, while Gold Road Resources is declining more than 1 percent.
Another gold miner Ramelius Resources missed its June quarter production guidance, and is now expected to miss its upgraded full-year target also. The stock is down more than 4 percent.
In other news, shares in Opthea are surging more than 8 percent after the biotech was granted Fast Track designation by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its VEGF-C/-D 'trap' inhibitor, OPT-302, in combination with anti-VEGFA therapy for the treatment of patients with neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Tuesday and then announce its decision on interest rates. The RBA is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate steady at 0.1 percent.
Australia also will see June results for the inflation forecast from TD Securities and the Melbourne Institute. In May, the forecast called for a decline of 0.2 percent on month.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.754 on Tuesday.
Overnight, the U.S. were closed for the Independence Day holiday.
Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the upside on the day amid rising optimism about economic rebound on the back of data showing stronger than expected growth of eurozone private sector. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.58 percent, Germany's DAX edged up 0.08 percent and France's CAC 40 gained 0.22 percent.
Crude oil prices rose sharply as OPEC abandoned output talks without a deal. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery jumped $1.20 or 1.56 percent to $76.36 per barrel.
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