The Australian stock market is extending its early gains in mid-market trading on Tuesday, reversing some of the losses in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is moving above the 9,250 level, with gains in mining and energy stocks partially offset by weakness in financial stocks.
Traders remain cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s monetary policy meeting and the decision on interest rates later in the day. The RBA is expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 4.35 percent.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 25.20 points or 0.27 percent to 9,257.80, after touching a high of 9,263.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 25.00 points or 0.27 percent to 9,449.10. Australian stocks closed modestly lower on Monday.
Among the major miners, Rio Tinto, Fortescue and BHP Group are gaining almost 1 percent each, while Mineral Resources is losing almost 1 percent.
Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy is surging more than 5 percent, Origin Energy is edging up 0.3 percent, Santos is gaining almost 4 percent and Woodside Energy is adding more than 2 percent.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is declining almost 2 percent, Zip is losing more than 1 percent and Appen is down almost 1 percent, while WiseTech Global is up more than 1 percent and Xero is gaining almost 1 percent.
Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is gaining more than 1 percent, Genesis Minerals is adding almost 2 percent, Northern Star Resources is edging up 0.3 percent, Newmont is advancing more than 4 percent and Resolute Mining is rising almost 3 percent.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking is losing almost 1 percent, while National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are edging down 0.2 to 0.5 percent each.
In economic news, Australia’s NAB Business Confidence Index held at minus 6 in July 2026, unchanged from a revised reading in the previous month and remaining well below the level recorded in February before the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began. Meanwhile, business conditions edged up (4 vs 3 in June), but stayed below the long-run average of 7. Capacity utilization rose sharply to 83.0 percent.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.706 on Tuesday.
Market Analysis
Australian Market Extends Early Gains In Mid-market
2026-08-11 03:25:16
