ASX inches higher as RBA decision looms

The Australian sharemarket has finished morning trade slightly higher ahead of the Reserve Bank’s looming interest rate rise, with international markets subdued overnight as Wall Street remained closed for a public holiday.

The ASX 200 was sitting at 6,633.5 points at 11.55am AEST, a climb of 0.3 per cent from Monday’s close.

After a slight dip in the opening minutes of trade, the local index rose behind energy stocks, which climbed by 2.8 per cent. Rising oil prices overnight drove the sector, with Woodside jumping by 4 per cent to return to above $32 a share and Santos also edging 2 per cent higher.

All other sectors expect materials moved by less than 1 per cent, with the big four banks dropping slightly ahead of the RBA meeting this afternoon. Mining stocks rose by 1 per cent as Chinese iron ore futures moved slightly higher this morning, with BHP up 1.2 per cent.

The lifters: Regis Resources 10.3%, St Barbara 5.2%, Pointsbet Holdings 4.8%

The laggards: Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield -4.2%, Imugene -3.4%, Corporate Travel Management -2.2%

High-flying baby formula company Bubs Australia entered a trading halt on Tuesday morning as it seeks to raise $63 million to meet unexpected US demand. The producer has been a key supplier of US President Joe Biden’s global “Operation Fly Formula” mission to rectify the country’s baby formula shortage.

Gold miner Regis Resources was the biggest riser this morning after it announced it had set a record for gold production in the June quarter.

The ASX’s flat open comes after European stocks rallied 0.8 per cent and Britain’s FTSE rose over 1 per cent, boosted by gains in oil and gas companies as concerns of tight supply outweighed recession fears. Volumes were subdued as US markets were closed for the July 4 holiday.