By Oliver Gray
Investing.com -The S&P/ASX 200 added 22.1 points or 0.3% to 6,955.8 after the first 80 minutes of Tuesday’s trade, extending gains for the third consecutive session, trading at fresh 8-week highs and tracking a positive close on Wall Street overnight as market participants look ahead to upcoming business confidence data.
ASX 200 Futures were pointing 0.3% lower.
Among stocks, Financials lifted 1% overall with Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) up 0.5%, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) adding 0.6%, Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) up 1.5%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) lifting 0.9% and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) up 2%.
Health Care lifted 0.9% collectively, as CSL Ltd (ASX:CSL) gained 1.1%, Ramsay Health Care Ltd (ASX:RHC) added 0.7% and Resmed Inc (ASX:RMD) lifted 1.3%.
Consumer Discretionary also added 0.7% as Tabcorp Holdings Ltd (ASX:TAH) lifted 1.1% and Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX:WES) gained 0.9%.
Meantime, Sims Metal Management Ltd (ASX:SGM) shed 11.8% after citing lower volumes, tighter margins and rising inflationary pressures.
On the data front, investors will be looking ahead to NAB Business Confidence data set to be released later in the session, while Westpac Consumer Sentiment came in at -6.9% compared to -0.9% in the previous month.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were at 4.033% while United States 10-Year yields were at 4.224%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 fell 0.3% to 11,253.8.