(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is higher on Tuesday, extending gains from the previous two sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 breaking above the 6,800 level, after the Reserve Bank of Australia's Monetary Policy Board said that the country's economic recovery is stronger than expected. Investors are buying cyclical stocks as prospects of a stimulus-driven global economic recovery gets brighter.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is adding 63.20 points or 0.93 percent to 6,836.20, after rising to a high of 6,837.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 66.50 points or 0.95 percent to 7,085.60. Australian stocks closed marginally higher on Monday.
Among the major miners, Rio Tinto is losing almost 1 percent and Fortescue Metals is edging down 0.3 percent, while BHP Group and Mineral Resources are declining more than 1 percent each. OZ Minerals is up almost 1 percent.
Among oil stocks, Oil Search is edging down 0.2 percent, Santos is losing almost 1 percent and Woodside Petroleum is losing 0.4 percent, while Origin Energy is edging up 0.2 percent.
Among the big four banks, ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging up 0.1 percent, while National Australia Bank is edging down 0.2 percent and Commonwealth Bank is adding 0.6 percent.
Among tech stocks, Afterpay is higher by almost 1 percent and Appen is gaining more than 2 percent, while WiseTech Global is down almost 1 percent.
Gold miners are mostly higher as gold prices rose on Monday. Newcrest Mining is edging up 0.5 percent and Evolution Mining is gaining almost 3 percent, while Northern Star Resources is declining more than 1 percent.
Facebook has struck content deals with News Corp. and Nine Entertainment, two of the largest Australian media companies, following the recent passing of the new Media Bargaining Code. News Corp. and Nine Entertainment are up more than 1 percent.
In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia released the minutes from its monetary policy meeting on March 2. At the meeting, the RBA voted to leave its cash rate and asset purchase program unchanged and indicated that it will not raise the rate until inflation returns to the target range. The policy board held its cash rate at a record low of 0.10 percent, while it also maintained the target yield on the 3-year Australian government bond at around 0.1 percent.
Further, the house price index in Australia was up 3.0 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2020, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday. That beat forecasts for an increase of 2.0 percent following the 0.8 percent increase in the previous three months. On a yearly basis, the house price index gained 3.6 percent, slowing from 4.5 percent in the three months prior.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.775 on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks turned in a lackluster performance for much of the trading session on Monday but managed to end the day mostly higher. With the upward move on the day, the Dow and the S&P 500 reached new record closing highs.
The major averages showed a strong move to the upside going into the close, ending the session near their best levels of the day. The Dow rose 174.82 points or 0.5 percent to 32,953.46, the Nasdaq jumped 139.84 points or 1.1 percent to 13,459.71 and the S&P 500 climbed 25.60 points or 0.7 percent to 3,968.94.
Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index fell by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both dipped by 0.2 percent.
Crude oil futures ended lower on Monday with traders weighing energy demand prospects in the wake of a spike in coronavirus cases in Europe. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April slid $0.22 or 0.3 percent at $65.39 a barrel.
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