The Australian stock market is trading higher on Tuesday with investors tracking the overnight surge on Wall Street and picking up stocks from across various sectors. Financial, consumer discretionary, healthcare and mining stocks are mostly up with strong gains, while energy stocks are exhibiting a mixed trend.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index, which rose to 4,503.3, is currently up 32.4 points or 0.7 percent at 4,494.2. The broader All Ordinaries index is up 31.2 points or 0.7 percent at 4,545.
Among bank stocks, ANZ Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank and Westpac are up 0.8 to 1.5 percent. Bendigo & Adelaide Bank is up 1.7 percent, while Bank of Queensland is trading 0.5 percent up.
Among miners, BHP Billiton is up 1.3 percent, Rio Tinto is gaining 1.2 percent and Fortescue Metals is up 0.5 percent. Bluescope Steel, Newcrest Mining and Iluka Resources are also trading firm.
In the energy space, Woodside Petroleum and Oil Search are trading flat. Santos is up marginally, while Origin Energy is trading lower by 0.7 percent. Meanwhile, Caltex Australia is gaining nearly 2 percent.
Connecteast Group, Aquarius Platinum, Atlas Iron, Sims Metal Management, CSL, News Corporation, Primary Healthcare, Cochlear and James Hardie Industries are up 2 to 3.5 percent.
Sonic Healthcare, Crown, Alumina and Perpetual are also up with impressive gains. Board Longyear and Iluka Resources are trading lower by 2.5 percent and 1.8 percent respectively.
According to reports, a multi-million dollar class action against shopping centre owner Centro will be boosted by a federal court decision against the company's directors. Publicly-listed litigation funder IMF and law firm Maurice Blackburn are leading the action on behalf of hundreds of investors seeking an estimated A$200 million in damages due to alleged deceptive conduct and breaches of continuous disclosure obligations.
The allegations are levelled against Centro Properties Group, Centro Retail Group, and their auditors, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and relate to conduct from August 2007 to February 2008.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar opened higher and was quoting at US$1.0444 in early trades, up from Monday's close of US$1.0425. The Australian dollar is currently trading at 1.0471 to the U.S. dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea are up with strong gains. Malaysia and Singapore are up marginally, while Shanghai is trading flat. Markets across the region ended mostly lower on Monday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved higher on Monday, recovering from the sell-off that was seen in the previous session. Optimism about a potential resolution to the Greek debt crisis helped to generate buying interest.
The major averages pulled back off their highs for the session going into the close but remained firmly positive. The Dow advanced by 109 points or 0.9 percent to 12,043.6, the Nasdaq jumped 35.4 points or 1.3 percent to 2,688.3 and the S&P 500 ended up 11.6 points or 0.9 percent to 1,280.1.
Major European markets ended on a mixed note on Monday. While the German DAX index edged down by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index and the French CAC 40 index gained 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent respectively.
Crude oil prices edged lower on Monday amid worries about global economy. Light, sweet crude for August delivery ended down 55 cents or 0.6 percent at $90.61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.