AUSTRALIAN shares rose on Tuesday, supported by heavyweight banks and strong performances from mining stocks following global miner BHP Group's record dividend and upbeat earnings.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 42.5 points or 0.6 per cent at 7,106.8, as of 0035 GMT.
The benchmark closed 0.5 per cent lower on Monday.
Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei was down 0.3 per cent while S&P 500 E-minis futures were down 0.2 per cent.
BHP, the world's largest miner by market value, declared a record dividend on higher annual profit, owing to strong commodity prices and higher sales from its Western Australia iron ore operations.
The stock surged as much as 5.5 per cent, versus a 0.5 per cent gain in the broader mining sector index. Other industry heavyweights Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group traded marginally higher.
Financial stocks rose 0.8 per cent, helped by three of the country's "Big Four" banks rising between 0.1 per cent and 0.6 per cent.
Energy firms, however, provided a counterweight as they slipped 0.9 per cent, with weak data from China weighing on oil prices.
Shares of Woodside Energy fell 2.1 per cent.
Top loser in the benchmark index was investment manager Challenger, which shed 11.9 per cent in its worst session since April 2021 after reporting a lower full-year profit.
Fibre cement maker James Hardie Industries slashed its annual profit forecast on account of a slowing housing market. Shares of the company were trading 1.8 per cent lower.
Shares of Tassal Group hit their highest level since August 2019 after the aquaculture firm said it had accepted a buyout bid from Canada's Cooke, at an enterprise value of A$1.70 billion (S$1.64 billion).
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.3 per cent to 11,829.53. REUTERS

Sumber : businesstimes.com.sg