Shares romped higher on Tuesday, tracking a tech-driven rally on Wall Street ahead of key US corporate earnings, and Australian inflation data closely scrutinised for clues on the Reserve Bank's next policy move.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.5 per cent or 34.3 points to 7683.5 extending Monday's 1.1 per cent gain. The All Ordinaries rose 0.5 per cent to 7937.9.
Of the 11 sharemarket sectors, energy, materials and industrials were in the red.
EML Payments climbed 4.4 per cent to $1.07 after Wilson Asset Management emerged as a substantial holder with a 6.1 per cent stake.
The big four banks rose and investors overlooked a $164 million charge flagged by Westpac ahead of its interim profit result. Westpac shares rallied 0.9 per cent to $25.97.
Index-heavy mining giants were mixed, with Rio Tinto down 0.2 per cent to $129.57 and BHP 0.2 per cent higher to $45.50. Fortescue slipped 0.8 per cent to $24.60.
Gold miners suffered after the precious metal lost its safe haven appeal on fading tensions in the Middle East. Spot gold prices fell 0.9 per cent $US2305.99, drifting from an all-time high of $US2431.29 touched earlier this month. Gold has gained 12 per cent this year.
Gold producer St Barbara sank 5.5 per cent while Regis Resources, Ramelius and Silver Lake shaved off more than 4 per cent. Meanwhile, Northern Star fell 3.5 per cent to $14.74 following mixed quarterly results affected by adverse weather conditions.
Transport and logistics group Brambles was among the biggest laggards. It plunged 6.3 per cent to $14.64 in the worst one-day drop in two years after a trading update disappointed investors.
Andre Fromyhr at broker UBS said the pallets company could find it harder to achieve the top of its forecast guidance.
In other corporate news, developer Lifestyle Communities dived nearly 14 per cent after flagging lower home settlements than expected for fiscal 2024.
Producer Select Harvests cratered nearly 10 per cent after lowering its crop output guidance due to wet weather amid soft conditions for almond prices.
Focus on inflation data
The Australian dollar rebounded to US64.53, pulling away from a five-month low of US63.60 mined last week when the Middle East conflict escalated.
Locally, attention will swing to quarterly inflation data on Wednesday for clues on the Reserve Bank's policy settings.
The consumer price index for the March quarter is forecast to show an acceleration to 0.8 per cent, from 0.6 per cent. This would slow the annual pace to 3.5 per cent, from 4.1 per cent in the 12 months to the end of December. Even so, such a pace is outside the RBA's 2 per cent to 3 per cent target band.
The market is fully priced for the Reserve Bank to start easing, but not before 2025.
The central bank has lifted the cash rate 13 times to the present 4.35 per cent to tame inflation, which peaked at close to 8 per cent in 2022. Yet, price growth is proving stickier than expected, particularly in services.
Sumber : afr.com
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