Australian Market Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is slightly higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous three sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 staying above the 6,700 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, boosted largely by strong rebound in gold miners, materials and energy stocks, partially offset by weakness in technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 13.10 points or 0.20 percent to 6,719.10, after touching a high of 6,729.40 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 13.20 points or 0.19 percent to 6.906.80. Australian stocks closed sharply higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Fortescue Metals is adding 2.5 percent and BHP Group is advancing more than 2 percent. OZ Minerals is losing almost 4 percent.

Oil stocks are higher, with Beach energy gaining 4.5 percent, while Woodside Energy, Origin Energy and Santos are adding more than 2 percent each.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 3 percent, Zip is slipping almost 5 percent, WiseTech Global is down almost 2 percent and Appen is sliding 5.5 percent. Xero is flat.

Gold miners are higher. Newcrest Mining and Resolute Mining are gaining more than 2 percent each, while Gold Road Resources is adding more than 3 percent, Evolution Mining is edging up 0.4 percent and Northern Star Resources is advancing more than 6 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is edging up 0.1 percent and National Australia Bank is edging down 0.4 percent, while Westpac and ANZ Banking are losing almost 1 percent each.

In other news, shares in Tassal Group are surging almost 14 percent after the salmon farming firm rejected a third acquisition proposal from Canadian aquaculture firm Cooke Aquaculture Inc.

Shares in BWX Ltd. are plunging more than 39 percent after the personal care products firm launched a $23.2 million capital raise to repay off its debt and provide additional funds for working capital.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.693 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks closed lower on Monday after spending much of the day's session in negative territory as investors largely stayed cautious. They reassessed the expected path of Federal Reserve interest rate hikes amid falling inflation expectations.

The major averages all ended in the red with the Nasdaq posting a more pronounced loss. The Dow ended down by 62.42 points or 0.2 percent at 31,438.26, the S&P 500 settled lower by 11.63 points or 0.3 percent at 3,900.11, while the Nasdaq closed lower by 83.07 points or 0.72 percent at 11,524.55.

Meanwhile, the major European markets all moved to the upside on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.69 percent and Germany's DAX surged up 0.52 percent, while France's CAC 40 ended 0.43 percent down, failing to hold early gains.

Oil futures settled higher on Monday, extending gains from the previous session amid slightly easing worries about outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $1.95 or 1.8 percent at $109.57 a barrel.