Australia: Shares rise on tech, financials boost

AUSTRALIAN shares rose on Tuesday led by gains in banking and technology stocks, aided by hopes of a less hawkish US Federal Reserve, while fuel refiner Ampol fell as much as 9.3 per cent after missing earnings estimates.

The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.6 per cent to 6,818 by 2349 GMT. The benchmark rose 1.5 per cent on Monday.

On Wall Street, shares extended last week’s rally with all three major indices rising as signs of a cooling US economy rekindled hopes of the Fed slowing its pace of rate hikes.

Financial stocks rose 0.8 per cent, with Australia’s “big four” banks gaining between 0.1 per cent and 0.7 per cent.

Mining stocks were 0.3 per cent lower, with heavyweight BHP Group down 0.2 per cent.

BHP said it was “disappointed” at the support for industrial action at its Queensland coal mines, after a workers’ union voted in favour of job security protections, including shift length stoppages and a ban on non-rostered overtime. Mining giant Rio Tinto fell 0.3 per cent, while Fortescue Metals Group fell 1 per cent. Fuel refiner Ampol dropped as much as 9.3 per cent after quarterly earnings missed market expectations. Ampol also forecast record full-year earnings.

Other energy stocks were 0.5 per cent lower. Oil prices pulled back slightly overnight on concerns over demand from major consumer China.

Tech stocks rose 1.2 per cent, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street’s Nasdaq index.

Meanwhile, Australia’s biggest health insurer Medibank said it expected the number of customers affected by a massive data breach to grow, after it discovered policy records of a further 1,000 customers had been stolen.

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Australia: Shares gain 2% as hopes of easing Fed policy grow

The Canberra government will also unveil its annual budget later in the day, where investors will look for cues on the future of the country’s spiralling cost of living crisis and economic growth outlook.

New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 1.1 per cent to 10,895.97. REUTERS