Australia: Shares eke out gains on tech strength; RBA stance caps advance

[BENGALURU] Australian shares ended marginally higher on Tuesday (Apr 5), as surging oil prices lifted energy stocks and tech firms tracked Wall Street higher, although gains were capped by the central bank's signal of the first interest rate hike in more than a decade.

The S&P/ASX 200 ended 0.2 per cent higher at 7527.9 points.

The benchmark rose as much as 0.8 per cent earlier in the session, but pared gains after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) kept its cash rate at 0.1 per cent but noted inflation had picked up and was likely to rise further.

"The market will now be debating what the dropping of 'patient' and the (bank's) messages means in terms of the timing of the first rate hike," Damien McColough, head of rates strategy at Westpac, said in a note.

"We would expect the May and June pricing to be pared back somewhat, but for the August meeting to remain in focus... we expect some underperformance on a cross-market basis as the market comes to terms with an RBA that is closer to a hike than it has previously been."

Local tech stocks led gains on the benchmark, tracking the overnight strength in Wall Street's mega-cap technology and growth firms as Twitter shares soared after Tesla chief Elon Musk revealed a majority stake in the micro-blogging platform.

The tech sub-index advanced 3.1 per cent, hitting its highest since Jan 19, with ASX-listed shares of Block, owned by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, gaining as much as 7.1 per cent.

Energy stocks jumped 2.2 per cent as worries loom over tighter oil supply with prospects of further sanctions on Russia following alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

Woodside Petroleum, Santos and Beach Energy climbed between 2.7 per cent and 1.6 per cent.

However, nickel-lithium miner IGO closed 2.9 per cent lower after it said its US$829.3 million takeover of nickel producer Western Areas might fall through.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 closed 0.6 per cent higher at 12121.39. REUTERS