Banks, miners boost Australian shares higher; Fortescue shines
Banks pulled Australian shares higher for a fourth straight session on Tuesday, supported by miners as Fortescue gained on higher quarterly iron ore shipments.
The S&P/ASX 200 index gained 0.6% to 8,043.30 points by 1251 GMT.
The benchmark had ended 0.4% higher on Monday. Rate-sensitive financials climbed for a ninth straight session ahead of the first-quarter inflation print on Wednesday.
The 'Big Four' lenders gained between 0.1% and 0.4%.
Banks propel Australian shares higher; local inflation data eyed
The inflation data is estimated to show a marginal drop, building the case for an interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia in May.
Miners rose 0.4%. Fortescue, the world's fourth largest iron ore producer, hit its highest since March 28 on delivering higher third-quarter iron ore shipments after a train derailment hampered exports a year ago.
Whitehaven Coal, the country's biggest independent coal miner, jumped as much as 4.4% to its highest since April 15 on producing 9.2 million metric tons of coal in the third quarter, beating a Visible Alpha consensus estimate.
BHP Group and Rio Tinto were up 0.3% and 0.8%, respectively.
Energy stocks traded 0.9% higher to hit the highest since April 4, led by a 0.3% increase in Woodside Energy on greenlighting a $17.5 billion Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project in Louisiana.
Technology stocks gained 1.3%, while healthcare stocks added 0.3%.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index slipped 0.1% to 12,086.05 points.
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