Australian shares rose 0.4 percent on Tuesday, shored up by banks and safe-haven healthcare stocks, while miners were under pressure on uncertainty over global growth. Coming out of the reporting season, investors have been picking up banks, utilities and healthcare stocks, seeing those sectors as relatively resilient to global headwinds, brokers and fund managers said.
"There's been a bit of confidence slipping back into the mindset of investors," said Michael Heffernan, senior client adviser at Lonsec. Signs that companies, such as blood products maker CSL and jobs website Seek, were growing their profits despite the tough global environment, had seen selected stocks rally, pushing the market toward four-month highs.
CSL gained 2 percent on Tuesday, while three of the Big Four banks rose between 0.8 and 1 percent, led by National Australia Bank. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index gained 15.7 points to close at 4,359.4, according to the latest data. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index ended up 0.2 percent at 3,629.05.