Australia Market extends gain on bargain hunting

Headline indices of the Australian share market were higher in volatile trade on Tuesday, 30 October 2018, as investors continued hunting for beaten down stocks after recent selloff. Market gains were, however, modest amid fresh worries over Sino-U.S. trade frictions after reports the U.S. is planning an additional $257 billion worth of tariffs on Chinese goods if upcoming talks between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping fail to end the trade war. In late afternoon trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index advanced 41 points, or 0.71%, at 5,769.10 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index grew 38.55 points, or 0.66%, to 5,852.30 points.

Shares of banks and financials were firmer. ANZ Banking, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank were up in a range of 0.3% to 0.6%, while National Australia Bank fell down 0.3%.

Shares of materials and resources companies mostly higher after iron ore prices flattened and copper prices steadied, with Rio Tinto and Fortescue both were up almost 1%m while mining giants BHP Billiton were 0.2% down following a recent sell-off partly due to worries over Chinese demand amid the trade frictions between Beijing and Washington.

Shares of Gold miners declined after gold prices settled at a one-week low overnight. Evolution Mining and Newcrest Mining lost were lower in a range of 1% to 2%.

Shares of energy companies declined after crude oil prices dipped overnight on concerns over the slowing economy. WTI crude for December declined $0.55 or 0.8% to close at $67.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Woodside Petroleum, Santos, and Oil Search were lower in a range of 0.5% to 2%. CURRENCY: Australian Dollar was tad softer higher against greenback and other major currencies on Tuesday. The Australian dollar was at $0.7070 following a slide from above the $0.709 handle in the last session.

OFFSHORE MARKET: US stock market closed lower on Monday, amid worries about renewed trade tensions between the U.S. and China as well as on lower crude oil prices. Investors are concerned that corporate earnings may peak this quarter as borrowing costs rise with the US Federal Reserve expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points in December, followed by another two possible hikes in 2019. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 245.39 points or 1% to 24,442.92, the Nasdaq tumbled 116.92 points or 1.6% to 7,050.29 and the S&P 500 fell 17.44 points or 0.7% to 2,641.25.

European markets ended higher on Monday. The French CAC 40 Index rose by 0.4%, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index jumped by 1.2% and 1.3%, respectively.

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