Australian Stocks Climb Midday, Extending Earlier Gains

(RTTNews) – The Australian stock market continued to climb during mid‑day trading on Tuesday, building on the previous session’s gains after a mixed close on Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose above 9,150, led by strength in gold miners, financial stocks and technology shares.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index advanced 59.50 points, or 0.65 %, to 9,162.60, after earlier hitting 9,179.90. The broader All Ordinaries Index rose 52.90 points, or 0.56 %, to 9,368.60. Australian equities closed noticeably higher on Monday.

Among major miners, Rio Tinto gained more than 1 % and BHP Group rose nearly 1 %, while Mineral Resources fell over 1 % and Fortescue slipped 0.5 %.

Energy stocks were mixed. Beach Energy lost about 1 % and Santos edged down 0.2 %, whereas Origin Energy rose more than 1 %. Woodside Energy was flat.

Technology names showed solid momentum. Afterpay parent Block rose 0.3 %, Zip jumped almost 4 %, Xero gained close to 2 %, Appen was up nearly 3 % and WiseTech Global advanced over 3 %.

Gold miners were mostly higher. Evolution Mining and Resolute Mining each gained more than 1 %, Newmont was up almost 1 % and Genesis Minerals added 0.4 %. Northern Star Resources slipped 0.4 %.

The big four banks rose in step. ANZ Banking, Westpac and National Australia Bank each climbed around 1 %, while Commonwealth Bank edged up 0.3 %.

In corporate news, ARB Corporation shares surged more than 17 % after the firm maintained its final dividend at 35 c per share despite a decline in net profit and revenue for the fiscal year.

On the economic front, the Reserve Bank of Australia will publish the minutes of its 11 August monetary policy meeting on Tuesday. At that meeting the RBA held its cash rate at 4.35 %, following 25‑basis‑point hikes in February, March and May.

The board reiterated its focus on preventing entrenched inflation, noting that the CPI is not expected to return to the midpoint of its target range until late 2027.

The Australian dollar traded at US$0.715 on Tuesday.

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