Australian shares rose on Tuesday, as soaring oil prices lifted energy stocks and growth stocks tracked Wall Street peers higher, while investors awaited policy decision by the central bank, which is expected to stand pat on interest rates.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.45% at 7,547.7 points, as of 0121 GMT.
The benchmark ended higher on Monday. The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to keep interest rates at a record low of 0.1% in its policy meeting on Tuesday, with a rate hike likely just weeks after a federal election in May, a Reuters poll shows, as the bank is under scrutiny to lay the groundwork for rate hikes later in the year.
Energy stocks jumped 2.9%, following a surge in the oil prices overnight as worries loomed over tighter supply with mounting civilian deaths in Ukraine increasing pressure on European countries to impose sanctions on Russia’s energy sector.
Sector heavyweights Woodside Petroleum and Santos rose 2.3% and 1.9%, respectively.
Tech stocks climbed 3%, tracking a rally on Wall Street, which was boosted by mega-cap technology and growth shares and a surge in Twitter after Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk revealed his stake in the micro-blogging site.
Australian shares rise as miners hit record high, gold stocks jump
Payments solutions provider EML Payments jumped 3.4%, while ASX-listed shares of Block Inc climbed 6.5%, leading gains in the technology sub-index.
Miner IGO Ltd skidded as much as 3.3% to mark its worst day in three weeks after announcing nickel producer Western Areas’ plan to terminate a A$1.10 billion ($829.07 million) acquisition deal by the nickel and lithium miner.
New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.04% to 12,057.7.
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