(RTTNews) - The Australian stock market is trading firm on Tuesday with the overnight rally on Wall Street on the back of some better-than-expected earnings reports triggering fairly strong buying across the board. Materials, energy, financials, industrials and consumer discretionary stocks are among the prominent gainers.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index, which opened on a firm note, is currently up 75.2 points, or 1.5%, at 4,868. The broader All Ordinaries index is trading at 4,872, up 70.2 points, or 1.4%, over its previous close.

On Monday, the S&P/ASX 200 index had declined 43.6 points, or 0.9%, to 4,793, while the All Ordinaries index ended lower by 40.8 points, or 0.84%, at 4,802.

Among materials stocks, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are trading stronger by 1.8% and 2.2%, respectively. Newcrest Mining is up 1.2%, Orica is gaining about 2.3% and Bluescope Steel is trading higher by 3.4%. Fortescue Metals, Incitec Pivot and Lihir Gold are also trading firm.

Energy stocks Origin Energy, Santos and Woodside Petroleum are trading higher by 1%-3%. However, Oil Search is trading lower by as much as 6.8%. The company has announced the successful completion of A$895 million institutional placement. The company will use the proceeds to fund PNG LNG Project and other gas growth opportunities. Following the institutional placement, the company will also offer eligible shareholders the opportunity to participate in Share Purchase Plan.

In the banking space, ANZ Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank and Westpac Banking Corporation are up 1.3%-2.5%, while diversified financials stock Macquarie Group is trading 1.6% up.

Shares of supermarket giant Woolworths Ltd are down nearly 1% despite the company increasing sales by 4.2% in the first quarter of 2009-10. The company expects sales for the full year to grow in the upper single digits. Sales for the 14 weeks to October 4 were A$13.367 billion. Excluding petrol, sales increased 7.4%.

On the economic front, according to a report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, merchandise imports into Australia rose by A$1.033 billion in September, seasonally adjusted, to A$17.218 billion. Unadjusted, merchandise imports increased by 14%, or A$2.146 billion, to A$17.637 billion, from an upwardly revised A$15.491 billion in August.

Imports of mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials rose to A$2.334 billion in September from A$1.899 billion a month earlier, while imports of machinery and transport equipment rose to A$6.886 billion, from A$5.826 billion.

In the currency market, the Australian dollar is trading at 0.9286 to the U.S. dollar.

Among other stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Japan, New Zealand and Taiwan are trading notably higher. Singapore and Korea are also trading firm. Stock markets across the region had ended on a mixed note on Monday.

On Wall Street, stocks rallied sharply on Monday on better-than-expected earnings reports and economic optimism. The decline in homebuilder confidence did hurt sentiment to an extent but the impact was not significant.

The Dow ended stronger by 96.3 points, or 1%, at 10,092, the Nasdaq advanced 19.5 points, or 0.9%, to end at 2,176 and the S&P 500 moved up 10.2 points, or 0.9%, to 1,098.

Major European markets closed considerably higher on Monday, with the French CAC 40 index and the German DAX index advancing by 1.7% and 1.9% respectively, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 index rose by 1.1%.

Crude moved higher for the eighth consecutive session and rose toward US$80 per barrel on Monday as higher global equities improved the outlook for energy demand. Light sweet crude oil for November delivery finished at US$79.61 per barrel, up US$1.08 on the session.

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Posted in Categories: Australia, Eurozone, Japan, New Zealand, Releases, Stocks, USA.

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