BHP, CSL gains help Australian shares snap four-day losing streak

Australian shares edged higher on Tuesday, with gains in mining heavyweight BHP and biotech major CSL helping offset a pullback in bank stocks, while global risk appetite remained muted amid stalled efforts to negotiate a US-Iran peace treaty.

The S&P/ASX 200 index inched 0.1% higher to 9,078.90 points by 0040 GMT, and was set to snap a four-day losing streak.

The benchmark fell 0.5% on Monday. BHP gained as much as 4.2% after the miner topped profit estimates for the year and announced its highest total dividend in four years, propelling the mining sub-index higher.

Peers Rio Tinto and Fortescue also edged 0.3% higher each.

Healthcare stocks rose as much as 7.6%, set for their best day in over six years, fuelled by biotechnology giant CSL gaining more than 18%.

The firm, among the world’s top flu vaccine makers, forecast strong growth in 2027 on the back of its core plasma division, sending shares rallying in their best session since 2001.

Banks capped gains on the benchmark index, falling around 1.3% and set for a third straight session in the red.

The “Big Four” banks declined between 0.5% and 1.4%. Australia’s “Big Four” banks, which account for most of the country’s A$2.4 trillion mortgage market, reported double-digit declines in home-loan applications after tax changes announced in May, with Commonwealth Bank and NAB each citing a 15% drop earlier this month.

Energy stocks edged 0.6% higher, buoyed by rising oil prices on global supply worries.

Sector giants Woodside Energy and Santos both gained around 0.3%.

On the global front, progress toward peace talks and a resumption of oil-tanker traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz has stalled, weighing on investor sentiment.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index inched up 0.1% to 13,739.83.