The Australian stock market witnessed a substantial upswing on Tuesday, breaking a five-day losing streak in the wake of mixed signals from Wall Street the previous night. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index surpassed the 8,300 mark, buoyed by advances in financial and technology sectors. However, these gains were tempered by setbacks in mining and energy sectors due to weaker commodity prices.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 64.80 points or 0.79% to reach 8,314.30, momentarily touching 8,314.80. Meanwhile, the broader All Ordinaries Index increased by 63.60 points or 0.75%, reaching 8,557.60, after Australian stocks ended significantly lower on Monday.
In the mining sector, BHP Group and Mineral Resources experienced slight declines of 0.1 to 0.5%, while Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto each lost nearly 1%.
Oil stocks mostly faced downward pressure, with Origin Energy dipping 0.2%, Santos declining over 1%, and Woodside Energy dropping 1.5%. Contrarily, Beach Energy edged up 0.4%.
Tech stocks showed resilience with Afterpay owner Block, Zip, WiseTech Global, and Xero each gaining nearly 1%, while Appen slipped 0.5%.
In the realm of gold mining, the situation was mixed: Gold Road Resources and Resolute Mining rose over 1% each, Evolution Mining ticked up 0.3%, but Newmont fell almost 1% and Northern Star Resources dropped more than 1%.
Among Australia's major banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking, and National Australia Bank each saw gains exceeding 1%, with Westpac adding nearly 1%.
Elsewhere, Karoon Energy shares plunged over 7% following a downward revision in production guidance. Additionally, Data#3's shares dived over 9% after announcing modifications to its Microsoft partnership in Australia, including reduced incentives.
In the currency realm, the Australian dollar was trading at $0.637 on Tuesday.
In the U.S., Wall Street mostly advanced on Monday despite Friday's lackluster session. The Nasdaq, focused on technology stocks, surged to a record high, ending up 247.17 points or 1.2% at 20,173.89. The S&P 500 rose by 22.99 points or 0.4% to 6,074.08, while the Dow Jones bucked the trend, slipping 110.58 points or 0.3% to 43,717.48.
Conversely, major European markets experienced declines, with France's CAC 40 Index falling by 0.7%, and both Germany's DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index decreasing by 0.5%.
Oil prices fell on Monday due to demand concerns triggered by weak economic data from China and tariff threats. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January decreased by $0.58, closing at $70.71 per barrel.
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