The Australian stock market is extending gains on Tuesday from the previous session following the positive lead overnight from Wall Street as concerns over North Korea fade.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is adding 42.60 points or 0.74 percent to 5,773.00, off a high of 5,774.70 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 39.90 points or 0.69 percent to 5,818.50.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking, Westpac, National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank are higher in a range of 1.1 percent to 1.8 percent.
ANZ Banking reported a third-quarter cash profit of A$1.8 billion, reflecting strong growth in owner-occupier mortgage lending.
In the mining space, BHP Billiton is advancing almost 1 percent and Rio Tinto is adding 0.4 percent, while Fortescue Metals is down almost 1 percent.
Meanwhile, gold miners are lower. Newcrest Mining is declining 1 percent and Evolution Mining is down more than 1 percent.
Oil stocks are also weak after crude oil prices declined more than 2 percent overnight. Oil Search and Woodside Petroleum are down almost 1 percent each.
Santos is losing more than 2 percent after the company said it expects to book an impairment charge of $690 million in its half-year results due later in August.
Domino's Pizza Enterprises reported a nearly 25 percent increase in its full-year profit, but missed its forecast. Australia's largest pizza maker also announced a share buyback of up to A$300 million. The food retailer's shares are losing almost 17 percent.
Novogen said it has identified annual cost savings of A$1.8 million in a review of its business operations. The company's shares are rising more than 2 percent.
Challenger recorded a 21 percent increase in its full-year statutory profit on higher revenues and growth in assets under management. However, the company's shares are declining almost 1 percent.
In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia will release the minutes from its monetary policy meeting on August 1. At the meeting, the central bank decided to leave its key interest rate unchanged at a record low of 1.50 percent for the eleventh consecutive meeting.
Australia also will see July figures for new motor vehicle sales today.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is lower on Tuesday against the U.S. dollar. In early trades, the local unit was trading at US$0.7852, up from US$0.7869 on Monday.
On Wall Street, stocks closed higher on Monday, partly due to bargain hunting. Trading activity was somewhat subdued, however, with a lack of major U.S. economic data keeping some traders on the sidelines.
The Dow climbed 135.39 points or 0.6 percent to 21,993.71, the Nasdaq jumped 83.68 points or 1.3 percent to 6,340.23 and the S&P 500 surged up 24.52 points or 1 percent to 2,465.84.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on Monday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index advanced by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both jumped 1.4 percent.
Crude oil futures fell sharply Monday, trimming recent gains as traders bet the global oil supply glut will continue. WTI crude slipped $1.23 to or 2.5 percent to $47.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, easing from 11-week highs.
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Market Analysis
April 17, 2026 15:29 ET The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to raise concerns for policymakers who worry about the impact of the supply shock and high energy prices on the real economy. Producer price data and various survey results on the housing market were the main news from the U.S. this week. In Europe, industrial production data for the euro area gained attention. GDP figures out of China and the policy move by the Singapore central bank were in focus in Asia.