Australian shares rose on Tuesday, buoyed by gains in banks and miners, while investors saw relief in Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ remarks that resource-rich Australia will be able to manage the direct impact of US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
The S&P/ASX 200 index gained 1.1% to 7,423.40 points by 0035 GMT.
The benchmark had finished 4.2% lower on Monday.
“We expect more manageable impacts on the Australian economy, but we still do expect Australian GDP to take a hit and we expect there to be an impact on prices here as well,” Chalmers said at a press conference.
The benchmark rebounded from losses on Monday when it fell to levels seen at the start of the pandemic, as major indexes around the world dropped to milestone lows on turbulent trade after Trump showed no sign of easing up on his trade war.
The mining sub-index jumped 1.7%, snapping four consecutive sessions of losses.
Miners Rio Tinto, BHP Group and Fortescue added between 1% and 1.8%.
Financials snapped three straight sessions of fall to advance 0.8%.
The “Big Four” banks gained between 0.6% and 1.3%. Energy stocks rose 1.8%, tracking oil prices higher after Monday’s heavy sell-off. Oil and gas major Woodside Energy and smaller peer Santos added 0.6% and 2.1%, respectively.
Australian stock index down 4.2% at close
Monday’s market rout got traders betting that there is a 20% chance that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) would cut interest rates by an outsized 50 basis points in May. New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 1.1% to 11,902.64 points.
The country expects a modest impact from US tariffs but has put in place the right settings and policies to navigate a period of uncertainties in the global financial markets, Finance Minister Nicola Willis said.
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