Australia: Tech, miners drive shares higher; Rio Tinto drops nearly 2%

[BENGALURU] Australian shares rose in choppy trading on Tuesday, helped by technology stocks and miners, while the world's biggest iron ore producer Rio Tinto dropped after warning of softer iron ore shipments in 2022.

The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.3 per cent at 7,439 points in early trade, after slipping 0.3 per cent on Monday.

While a holiday in the United States made for thin trading, share markets globally were choppy on Monday.

Back home, tech stocks rallied to the top of the benchmark on Tuesday, up as much as 1.2 per cent. Buy now, pay later major Afterpay gained 0.9 per cent.

Miners reversed course to rise in early trade, further aiding gains on the benchmark. The sub-index was up 0.5 per cent, even as iron ore prices weakened.

Shares of Rio Tinto were down nearly 2 per cent after it posted a 5.4 per cent drop in its fourth-quarter iron ore shipments, partly hit by lower demand from top consumer China.

In contrast, global miner BHP Group was up 0.5 per cent, ahead of its release of quarterly production figures on Wednesday.

Energy stocks were the biggest laggards, dropping 0.3 per cent despite strong oil prices.

Sector major Woodside Petroleum was down 0.4 per cent, while major fuel supplier Ampol firmed 2.2 per cent

Ampol said on Tuesday its Lytton Refinery in Queensland is expected to deliver the highest profit for more than four years in its quarterly results.

The financial sub-index fell 0.2 per cent, with Australia's top lenders National Australian Bank and Commonwealth Bank of Australia sliding about 0.4 per cent

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell over 0.2 per cent to 12,780.17 points, after ending up 0.1 per cent in Monday's session.

REUTERS