Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading notably higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous session, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving above the 8,800 level, with gains in financial and mining stocks partially offset by weakness in energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 52.20 points or 0.60 percent to 8,811.60, after touching a high of 8,820.80 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 55.00 points or 0.61 percent to 9,147.70. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is gaining 2.5 percent and Rio Tinto is adding almost 3 percent, while Mineral Resources and Fortescue are advancing more than 2 percent each. Oil stocks are mostly lower. Beach energy is losing almost 1 percent, while Woodside Energy and Origin Energy are declining almost 2 percent each. Santos is flat.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is declining almost 2 percent and Zip is losing 2.5 percent, while Xero and WiseTech Global are adding almost 1 percent each. Appen is flat.

Gold miners are higher. Evolution Mining and Genesis Minerals are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Northern Star resources and Resolute Mining are advancing almost 3 percent each. Newmont is edging up 0.5 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking and Westpac are all gaining almost 1 percent each.

In economic news, the Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index fell 1.7 percent on month in January 2026 to a three-month low of 92.9, extending the 9.0 percent slump in December as shifting rate expectations weighed on confidence.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.671 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks moved to the downside at the start of trading on Monday but showed a notable recovery over the course of the session. The major averages climbed well off their lows of the session and into positive territory, with the Dow and the S&P 500 reaching new record closing highs.

The major averages pulled back off their levels going into the close going into the end of the day but remained positive. The Dow rose 86.13 points or 0.2 percent to 49,590.29, the Nasdaq climbed 62.56 points or 0.3 percent to 23,733.90 and the S&P 500 increased 10.99 points or 0.2 percent to 6,977.27.

The major European markets closed mixed on the day. The German DAX Index climbed by 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.2 percent, although the French CAC 40 Index bucked the uptrend and closed just below the unchanged.

Crude oil prices climbed on Monday as the increasing possibility of U.S. intervention to end the Iran turmoil sets off production disruption concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was up $0.33 or 0.51 percent at $59.42 per barrel.