The Australian sharemarket finished modestly lower on Tuesday as weakness in mining and gold stocks outweighed gains across most sectors, with investors returning from the long weekend while monitoring developments in the Middle East and global interest rate expectations.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 20.9 points, or 0.2%, to close at 8,604.2. Despite the decline, seven of the market's 11 sectors finished in positive territory.
The Materials sector was the largest drag on the benchmark, with major miners retreating amid ongoing pressure on commodity prices.
BHP fell 1.9%, Rio Tinto lost 1.8%, and Fortescue shed 3.8%.
Gold producers also came under pressure after stronger-than-expected U.S. employment data over the weekend reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve may keep monetary policy tighter for longer.
The resulting strength in the U.S. dollar weighed on bullion prices.
Northern Star Resources declined 3.3%, Evolution Mining dropped 3.7%, and Newmont Corporation fell 4.8%.
James Hardie slipped 2.4% after the building materials group was served with a class action lawsuit in Australia alleging the company failed to disclose deteriorating conditions in its North American business before reporting quarterly earnings and lowering its full-year earnings forecast in August.
The Information Technology sector also weakened, with WiseTech Global falling 4.6% and Xero declining 1.1%. TechnologyOne bucked the trend, rising 0.7%.
Energy stocks delivered a mixed performance as crude oil prices eased following signs of de-escalation between Israel and Iran after their exchange of strikes over the weekend.
Woodside Energy gained 0.6%, Santos added 0.6%, and Viva Energy rose 1.8%, while Beach Energy fell 1.4%.
Uranium stocks were among the market's weakest performers, with Paladin Energy tumbling 8.8% and Deep Yellow dropping 7.6%.
Investors rotated into more defensive areas of the market amid ongoing uncertainty surrounding global growth, inflation and geopolitical risks.
Consumer Staples were among the strongest sectors, with Coles Group advancing 1.8% and Woolworths gaining 2.2%.
Telecommunications stocks also attracted buying interest. Telstra rose 2.2%, SEEK climbed 2.9%, and TPG Telecom added 1.1%.
OOh!media was one of the standout performers, surging 9.6% after receiving a $765 million takeover proposal from Bain Capital.
The bid places Bain in competition with Pacific Equity Partners and I Squared Capital for control of the outdoor advertising company.
Meanwhile, automotive parts retailer Bapcor rallied 4.8% after announcing the appointment of Bank of Queensland chairman Andrew Fraser to its board, effective from 1 July.
On the bond markets, the yield on the 10-year bond fell 1.0% to 4.923%, while the two-year yield declined 1.8% to 4.593%.
