The Australian sharemarket erased early losses to close higher on Tuesday, with broad-based gains across consumer discretionary, communication services and energy stocks offsetting a subdued start to the session.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 53.8 points, or 0.6%, to close at 8,947.8, with nine of the benchmark's 11 sectors finishing in positive territory.
Consumer discretionary stocks led the rally. JB Hi-Fi gained 3.3%, Tabcorp advanced 1.2%, Aristocrat Leisure climbed 2.9% and Wesfarmers added 2.1%.
Harvey Norman rose 2.3% despite the Federal Court imposing a $35 million penalty after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission succeeded in its case against the retailer over a misleading advertising campaign conducted with Latitude Financial.
Communication services also outperformed, with SEEK surging 6.8%, REA Group rising 4.4% and CAR Group gaining 5.5%.
Energy shares remained resilient despite the sharp decline in global oil prices.
Santos gained 1.2%, Woodside Energy lifted 2.8%, and Beach Energy finished 3.5% higher.
Viva Energy also advanced 8.6% to lead gains on the index after the fuel refiner forecast first-half group EBITDA of between $770 million and $780 million, well above the $305 million reported in the corresponding period last year, based on unaudited figures.
Among individual stocks, DroneShield led declines, shedding 13.2% after warning that margins would come under pressure. The company expects first-half gross margins to decline to 60%, from 65% a year earlier.
Web Travel Group soared 17.1% after announcing plans to buy back up to $90 million of its shares and forecasting first-half underlying earnings of between $80 million and $86 million.
On the bond markets, Australian government bond yields moved lower, with the 10-year yield falling 1.2% to 4.964% and the two-year yield declining 2.0% to 4.587%.
