A rise among most of the big banks has helped give a modest boost to the Australian share market as investors exercise caution ahead of the UK poll on whether Britain should leave the European Union.
Global stocks have been rallying on expectations that UK voters will vote on June 23 to stay in the European Union, but opinion polls indicate that the outcome may be close.
“We did see such a big rally across the board yesterday (on the easing of `Brexit’ fears) and yet it’s still not entirely certain that the `remain’ camp is going to win,” IG market strategist Angus Nicholson said.
“So you have been seeing a little bit of caution coming into trade today given that it was such a strong rally yesterday.”
Meanwhile Australia’s Reserve Bank has given little away on its next interest rate cut except to say it is watching the Australian dollar.
The RBA board held interest rates at a record low of 1.75 per cent on June 7 and released the June board meeting minutes on Tuesday.
Mr Nicholson said the RBA commentary was a mixed bag and it was still unclear whether the RBA would move to cut interest rates in August or not.
Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank rose 88 cents to $75.08, ANZ lifted 39 cents to $24.25, Westpac added 21 cents to $29.68, but National Australia Bank backtracked eight cents to $25.67.
In the resources sector, BHP Billiton eased 18 cents to $18.69 as the global miner said it is seeking another $US600 million in savings from its coal operations.
Rio Tinto was off 58 cents at $44.21, and Fortescue Metals dipped 10 cents to $3.26.
Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum was 97 cents lower at $26.50, and Santos was up 15 cents at $4.85.
Mr Nicholson said the energy sector had gotten a bit ahead of itself on Monday when some stocks rose by around 10 per cent and on Tuesday that momentum could not be sustained.
Among other stocks, APN News & Media fell 15 cents to $4.75 after it said it is cutting its ties to the Australian newspaper industry by offloading its regional publishing operations to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.
KEY FACTS:
* On Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 17.6 points, or 0.33 per cent, at 5,274.4 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 17.7 points, or 0.33 per cent, at 5,353.3 points.
* The September share price index futures contract was up 18 points at 5,215 points, with 28,783 contracts traded.
* The spot price of gold in Sydney at 1700 AEST was $US1,283.60 per fine ounce, down 50 US cents from $US1,284.10 on Monday.
* National turnover was 2.67 billion securities traded, worth $5.51 billion.
