The Australian stock market is trading modestly higher on Tuesday, adding to the gains in the previous three sessions, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving well above the 8,700 level, with a mixed performance across most sectors ahead of the release of The Reserve Bank of Australia's minutes of the latest monetary policy meeting.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 35.90 points or 0.41 percent to 8,735.80, after touching a high of 8,741.10 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 34.70 points or 0.39 percent to 9,035.40. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Monday.
Among the major miners, BHP Group and Rio Tinto are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Fortescue is edging up 0.1 percent. Mineral Resources is edging down 0.2 percent. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Woodside Energy and Santos are adding almost 1 percent each, while Beach energy is edging up 0.2 percent. Origin Energy is edging down 0.4 percent.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is losing more than 1 percent, while Zip is adding 1.5 percent, Xero is edging up 0.1 percent and WiseTech Global is gaining more than 1 percent. Appen is flat.
Gold miners are mostly lower. Evolution Mining is edging down 0.5 percent, while Genesis Minerals and Northern Star resources are losing almost 1 percent each. Newmont is gaining almost 1 percent. Resolute Mining is flat.
Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank is gaining almost 1 percent, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging up 0.2 percent each. National Australia Bank is edging down 0.3 percent.
In other news, shares in Goodman Group are jumping more than 7 percent after inking a A$14 billion partnership with CPP Investments to develop data centres across Europe, tapping into the booming demand for cloud and AI capabilities.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.666 on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Monday, extending the strong upward move seen over the two previous sessions. The major averages all moved to the upside on the day following the mixed performance seen in the previous week.
The major averages finished the day off their highs of the session but still firmly in positive territory. The Dow rose 227.79 points or 0.5 percent to 48,362.68, the Nasdaq climbed 121.21 points or 0.5 percent to 23,428.83 and the S&P 500 advanced 43.99 points or 0.6 percent to 6,878.49.
Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.4 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.3 percent and the German DAX Index edged down by less than a tenth of a percent.
Crude oil prices surged on Monday as the conflict between the U.S. and Venezuela continue to escalate, while Russia and Ukraine remain heavily engaged. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was up $1.43 or 2.53 percent at $57.95 per barrel.
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Market Analysis
December 19, 2025 15:10 ET U.S. inflation data and interest rate decisions by major central banks were the highlights of this busy week for economics news flow. Employment data and survey results on the housing markets also gained attention in the U.S. In Europe, the European Central Bank and Bank of England announced their policy decisions and macroeconomic projections.