Australian Market Sharply Higher

The Australian stock market is sharply higher on Tuesday, extending the gains in the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving above the 7,100 level, following the mixed cues from Wall Street on Monday, on a spike in crude oil prices and as traders continue to monitor developments surrounding the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis after the countries wrapped up the first round of talks.

Traders also await the Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision on interest rates, which is widely expected to be held at record low.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 107.40 points or 1.52 percent to 7,156.50, after touching a high of 7,156.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 116.20 points or 1.59 percent to 7,439.40. Australian stocks closed notably higher on Monday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 1 percent and Mineral Resources is adding almost 2 percent, while OZ Minerals and Fortescue Metals are edging down 0.2 percent each. Rio Tinto is flat.

Oil stocks are higher, with Beach energy gaining almost 2 percent, while Woodside Petroleum and Santos are adding more than 1 percent each. Origin Energy is edging up 0.3 percent.

Among tech stocks, Appen is gaining almost 5 percent, WiseTech Global is adding almost 4 percent, Xero is advancing more than 5 percent and Block is soaring more than 13 percent, while Zip is plunging almost 8 percent.

Gold miners are lower. Evolution Mining is losing almost 5 percent. Newcrest Mining and Resolute Mining are down almost 2 percent each, while Gold Road Resources and Northern Star Resources are declining more than 3 percent each.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are gaining more than 2 percent each, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are adding more than 1 percent each.

Commonwealth Bank agreed to sell a 10% stake of China’s Bank of Hangzhou for about $1.8 billion, exiting a nearly two-decade-old investment.

In other news, shares in Yancoal are soaring almost 15 percent after the coal miner posted record revenue and earnings for the first half, driven by elevated coal prices.

Australia’s financial crimes regulator AUSTRAC has launched court action against Crown Resorts, claiming that the casino giant breached anti-money laundering law a number of times over the past six years. The stock is down almost 1 percent.

In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting and then announce its decision on interest rates. The RBA is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at the record low 0.10 percent.

The manufacturing sector in Australia moved back into expansion territory in February, the latest survey from the Australian Industry Group showed on Tuesday with a Performance of Manufacturing Index score of 53.2. That’s up from 48.4 and it moves above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

The value of owner-occupied home loans in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 1.0 percent on month in January, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday – coming in at A$22.69 billion. That missed forecasts for an increase of 2.0 percent following the 5.3 percent spike in December. Overall home loans rose 2.6 percent on month to A$33.66 billion, while investment lending advanced 6.1 percent to A$10.97 billion. On a yearly basis, owner-occupied home loans rose 3.4 percent.

The ABS also said Australia had a seasonally adjusted current account surplus of A$12.677 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021. That missed expectations for a surplus of A$14.9 billion following the downwardly revised A$22.0 billion surplus in the three months prior (originally A$22.9 billion).

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.726 on Tuesday.

On Wall Street, stocks regained some lost ground Monday morning after a sharp plunge, but faltered again and eventually ended the day’s session on a mixed note amid high volatility.

The major averages closed mixed. The Dow ended with a loss of 166.15 points or 0.49 percent at 33,892.60, after swinging between 33,469.31 and 33,963.62. The S&P 500, which briefly emerged into positive territory around later morning, ended the session with a loss of 10.71 points or 0.24 percent at 4,373.94, while the Nasdaq settled with a gain of 56.77 points or 0.41 percent at 13,751.40.

Meanwhile, the major European markets closed weak. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 ended 0.42 percent down. Germany’s DAX slid 0.73 percent and France’s CAC 40 declined 1.39 percent.
Crude oil futures settled sharply higher Monday amid rising concerns about supply disruptions in Russia. As Russia accounts for about 10 percent of the global oil supply, the sanctions by the West are likely to significantly hurt supplies. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by 4.13 or 4.5 percent at $95.72 a barrel.

Market Analysis