The Australian stock market opened higher on Tuesday, tracking the positive cues overnight from Wall Street and on optimism about further stimulus by China, Australia's biggest trading partner.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is up 81.30 points or 1.39 percent to 5,927.40, off a high of 5,931.5 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is adding 77.80 1.34 5894.10.
Despite the fall in iron ore prices overnight, expectations of additional stimulus by China boosted the major miners. BHP Billiton (BHP) is gaining more than 3 percent, Rio Tinto (RIO) is adding more than 2 percent and Fortescue Metals is up 1 percent. Atlas Iron is gaining almost 2 percent.
Gold miner Newcrest Mining is up almost 1 percent, while Kingsgate Consolidated is down 1.5 percent after gold prices fell for a second straight session on Monday.
In the oil space, Woodside Petroleum is up 2 percent, Oil Search is up almost 1 percent and Santos is up more than 1 percent.
Fuel distributor Caltex Australia gained 1.5 percent, after the fall in its share price on Monday following Chevron selling its 50 percent stake in the company.
In the banking sector, ANZ Banking, Westpac (WBK), Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank are higher in a range of 0.7 percent to 1.3 percent.
Treasury Wine Estates said it will close a wine processing business and has put four wineries up for sale. Shares of the company are advancing almost 1 percent.
Vitamins and nutritional supplements maker Blackmores reported a 54 percent increase in first-half profit and said it expects third-quarter net profit to grow by about 20 percent. The company's shares are gaining more than 10 percent.
On the economic front, the Reserve Bank of Australia said that private sector credit in Australia was up 0.5 percent on month in February, matching forecasts and slowing from 0.6 percent in January. On a yearly basis, credit climbed 6.2 percent - unchanged from the previous month but shy of forecasts for 6.3 percent.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is lower against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, amid growing expectations of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia next week. In early trades, the local unit is trading at US$0.7641, down from Monday's close of US$0.7723.
On Wall Street, stocks showed a strong move back to the upside on Monday, partly due to bargain hunting following last week's pullback. Buying interest was generated by comments from People's Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan that generated optimism about additional stimulus. News on the merger-and-acquisition front also generated some positive sentiment.
The Dow soared 263.65 points or 1.5 percent to 17,976.31, while the NASDAQ jumped 56.22 points or 1.2 percent to 4,947.44 and the S&P 500 surged 25.22 points or 1.2 percent to 2,086.24.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on Monday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index climbed by 1 percent and the German DAX Index jumped by 1.8 percent.
U.S. crude oil rallied towards the close, but still ended lower for a second straight session on Monday amid renewed expectations of a nuclear deal with Iran which could see easing of sanctions against Tehran.
Crude oil futures for May delivery, the most actively traded contract, dipped $0.19 or 0.4 percent to settle at $48.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday.
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