(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading modestly higher on Tuesday, recouping some of the losses in the previous six sessions, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 moving just above the 7,300 level, despite the broadly sell-off on Wall Street overnight, as traders are looking to pick up stocks at a bargain following the recent weakness.
Meanwhile, the rapidly spreading Omicron variant of the coronavirus raised concerns about global economic recovery amid fears of fresh disruptions across supply chains globally following tighter restrictions in Europe.
Concerns are also rising domestically, with New South Wales reporting a record 3,057 new cases and two deaths on Monday. Victoria also reported 1,245 new cases and six deaths.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 19.30 points or 0.27 percent to 7,311.50, after touching a high of 7,317.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 18.20 points or 0.24 percent to 7,620.40. Australian stocks closed marginally lower on Monday.
Among the major miners, Mineral Resources and Rio Tinto are adding more than 1 percent each, while Fortescue Metals and BHP Group are gaining almost 1 percent each. OZ Minerals is edging down 0.2 percent.
Oil stocks are higher. Woodside Petroleum is edging up 0.2 percent and Santos is gaining 1.5 percent each, while Beach energy and Origin Energy are edging up 0.4 percent each.
Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank is edging up 0.5 percent, while ANZ Banking and Westpac are edging up 0.2 percent each. Commonwealth Bank is flat.
Among tech stocks, Appen is losing almost 1 percent, WiseTech Global is edging down 0.1 percent, Zip is edging down 0.5 percent and Afterpay is declining more than 3 percent. Xero is up almost 2 percent.
Gold miners are mixed. Resolute Mining and Gold Road Resources are losing almost 1 percent each, while Northern Star Resources is gaining almost 1 percent and Evolution Mining is adding more than 2 percent. Newcrest Mining is edging down 0.5 percent.
Shares in Australian Clinical Labs spiked almost 6 percent after the pathology tester raised its half-year revenue and profit guidance amid a surge in COVID-19 test demand.
In economic news, The Reserve Bank of Australia will on Monday release the minutes from its December 6 monetary policy meeting. At the meeting, Australia's central bank left its key interest rate unchanged at a record low of 0.10 percent. The board also voted to continue with the purchase of government securities at the rate of A$4 billion a week until at least mid-February 2022.
In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.711 on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks tumbled right at the start of the session on Monday, and stayed weak right through the day as rapidly spreading Omicron variant of the coronavirus raised concerns about global economic recovery.
The major averages all ended notably lower. The Dow, which plunged more than 700 points to 34,665.50, ended the day with a loss of 433.28 points or 1.23 percent at 34,932.16. The Nasdaq closed lower by 188.74 points or 1.24 percent at 14,980.94, recovering from the day's low of 14,860.04, while the S&P 500 settled at 4,568.02, recording a loss of 52.62 points or 1.14 percent.
The major European markets also closed notably lower on the day. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 lost 0.99 percent, Germany's DAX declined 1.88 percent and France's CAC 40 ended down 0.82 percent.
Crude oil futures settled sharply lower Monday as a rapid surge in Omicron variant of the coronavirus and stricter restrictions on movements in several countries raised concerns about outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended down by $2.63 or 3.7 percent at $68.23 a barrel.
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