The Australian share market has closed slightly lower after failing to sustain a morning push into record territory despite the release of dovish Reserve Bank minutes.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index early on April 2 hit a record intraday high of 7,910.5, building on Thursday’s (March 28) record close, but finished down 8.9 points at 7,887.9—a drop of 0.11 percent.
The broader All Ordinaries fell 7.9 points, or 0.1 percent, to 8,145.8.
Traders were digesting the release of Reserve Bank minutes that seemed to indicate that board members did not discuss raising rates at their March meeting for the first time since April 2022.
Commonwealth Bank economist Gareth Aird called the minutes “the most dovish piece of communication from the board since the RBA commenced its tightening cycle in May 2022”.
Overseas, an Israeli air strike in Damascus killed seven Iranian military advisers, raising fears the fighting might spread further and leading oil prices to spike to a five-month high.
Eight of the ASX’s 11 sectors finished lower and three finished higher.
Materials was the biggest gainer, rising 1.1 percent as BHP climbed 1.9 percent to $45.13 (US$29.35) and Rio Tinto added 0.7 percent to $122.59 (US$79.73), while Fortescue dipped 1.1 percent to $25.42.
The 10 biggest gainers on the ASX200 were all gold miners and uranium companies amid soaring prices for both commodities.
Gold changed hands for a record high of more than $US2,255 an ounce after softer US inflation data on Friday cemented bets that the Federal Reserve would cut rates in June.
West Africa Resources rose 6.3 percent to a one-year high of $1.275, Evolution added 6.3 percent to a two-and-a-half month high of $1.275 and Newmont rose 4.9 percent to $56.35.
Gold Road Resources even climbed 4.4 percent to $1.65 despite announcing heavy March rainfall had reduced production at its Gruyere gold mine in WA.
In the energy sector, uranium miners were doing well as prices for the nuclear fuel rebounded to $US88.50 a pound and an Australian-owned mine in Africa restarted production.
Boss Energy climbed 3.8 percent to $4.95, Deep Yellow finished three percent higher and Paladin rose 4.7 percent to an almost all-time high of $1.435 after announcing that production had begun at its Langer Heinrich uranium mine in Namibia.
In energy, Whitehaven Coal finished flat at $7.10 as it completed its $5 billion acquisition of two coking coalmines in Queensland from BHP and Mitsubishi, effectively doubling the size of its business.
In finance, the Big Four banks mostly had a quiet day.
NAB rose 0.5 percent to $34.82, ANZ and Westpac were both flat, at $29.39 and $26.11 respectively, and CBA dipped 0.2 percent to $120.07.
In the consumer discretionary sector, Treasury Wine Estates grew by 2.7 percent to $12.79 following China’s announcement late Thursday that it had dropped its tariffs on Australian wine imports.
TWE said the change was a prime opportunity for growth and it would reallocate a portion of its global market towards rebuilding its Chinese distribution.
In health care, Mesoblast soared 71.2 percent to an eight-month high of 95c after the biotech company announced last week that it had the OK from the US Food and Drug Administration to resubmit for approval its treatment for rare complications from bone marrow transplants.
On The ASX
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Tuesday finished nine points lower at 7,887.9, a drop of 0.11 percent.Currency Snapshot
One Australian dollar buys:* 64.90 US cents, from 65.24 US cents at Thursday’s ASX close
* 98.48 Japanese yen, from 98.71 yen
* 60.47 Euro cents, from 60.28 Euro cents
* 51.74 British pence, from 51.65 pence
* 109.12 NZ cents, from 108.93 NZ cents
