Australian shares touched a record high on Tuesday, reflecting broad gains among heavyweight miners on rising iron ore prices, while top fuel retailer Ampol emerged as the top loser after lower production print.
The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.6% to 8,305.5 points by 2329 GMT after touching a record high of 8,307.2 points.
The benchmark rose 0.5% on Monday.
Ampol, the top loser on the benchmark, fell as much as 5% to its lowest level since mid-January 2023, after recording a 42% drop in third-quarter output from its Lytton refinery in Queensland.
Mining stocks advanced 1% with iron ore prices surging on renewed prospects of further fiscal stimulus from top consumer China.
Mining giants BHP Group, Fortescue and Rio Tinto rose between 0.9% and 1.3%, respectively.
Financials followed with a gain of 0.8%, climbing to a near three-week high with the “Big Four” banks adding between 0.7% and 1.2%.
Tracking Wall Street, tech stocks advanced 0.5% with Xero rising 0.3% and WiseTech Global gaining 0.5%. Overnight, the US Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 201.36 points, or 0.47%, at 43,065.22 points on Monday.
The S&P 500 gained 44.82 points, or 0.77%, while Nasdaq gained 159.75 points, or 0.87%.
The only losers on the index, energy stocks, lost 0.3% as oil prices were pressurised by a weak global demand outlook. Sector major Woodside fell 1.2% while smaller rival Santos slipped 1.3%.
Australian shares hit two-week high on miners, banks boost
This week, Rio Tinto and Woodside will report their quarterly production results on Wednesday while BHP and Santos are expected to announce on Thursday.
New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index inched 0.1% lower to 12,751.93 points.
The country’s quarterly inflation due on Wednesday is expected to ease to 2.2% on a year-on-year basis, according to a Reuters poll.
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