April 2 (Reuters) – Australian shares rose on Wednesday as gains in heavyweight banks and real estate stocks offset declines in miners ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs announcement.
The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.3% to 7,950.2 points as of 0007 GMT. The benchmark closed 1% higher on Tuesday.
The Reserve Bank of Australia kept the interest rate steady at 4.10% on Tuesday, albeit keeping a slight dovish tone in its statement.
“With the U.S. administration’s ‘Liberation Day’ announcement just a day away, there was therefore no appetite to pre-empt something that might not be a big deal for Australia over the horizon that monetary policy can affect,” Westpac analysts wrote.
Globally, investors were cautious ahead of Trump’s reciprocal tariffs which are due to be announced on Wednesday, around 2000 GMT.
Markets are on edge due to the uncertain nature of the tariffs with no clarity on the extent, exemptions as well as the potential reactions from other countries.
Locally, banks rallied 0.7% to a nearly one-month high with all the “Big Four” banks rising between 0.7% and 1.5%.
Real estate stocks advanced 1.2%, with Goodman Group adding 2% and Dexus climbing 1.1%.
Bucking the trend, miners shed 0.9% despite an uptick in iron ore prices with the rise in demand from top consumer China.
Mining majors BHP and Rio Tinto slipped about 1.1% each, while Fortescue rose 0.5%.
Meanwhile, shares of embattled casino operator Star Entertainment remained suspended as it announced the failure to secure refinancing from investment group Salter Brothers Capital of up to A$940 million ($591.1 million).
New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.6% to 12,383.06 points.
($1 = 1.5903 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Sneha Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng)
