Australian shares close at a five-month high on broad-based gains

Commonwealth Bank of Australia

04/08/2026 07:45

Updates to close
ASX 200 closes at its highest level since early March
Banks hit four-months high
Tech climbs to a one-month high
BHP falls 0.3% after wage deal rejection
By Kumar Tanishk
Aug 4 (Reuters) - Australian shares closed at a five-month high on Tuesday, lifted by broad-based gains as oil prices hovered near recent lows on little progress towards easing U.S.-Iran tensions.
The S&P/ASX 200 index added 1.4% to 9,145.80 points, extending gains to a third straight session. The benchmark's relative strength index rose to nearly 71, a level typically viewed as signalling overbought conditions.
Oil prices edged higher in Asian trade though they remained near multi-week troughs. O/R
Investor sentiment also got a lift from strong overnight gains on Wall Street, which helped push Australian technology stocks .AXIJ to a near one-month high. .N
Top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX rose 1.6% after Jefferies lifted its price target on an upbeat outlook, helping propel the financials subindex .AXFJ up 1.9% to a near four-month high.
The other three major banks gained between 1.7% and 3%.
"The [bank] majors lagged through the Middle East volatility, and with oil falling hard and the geopolitical risk premium unwinding, money is rotating back into the domestic yield trade", said Hersh Oberoi, Global Research Director at Balfour Capital Group, referring to franked dividend stocks.
Oberoi said that falling oil prices support disinflation and keep prospects of local rate cuts alive, adding that "frankly, nobody wants to be underweight in results if the banks deliver clean credit quality and capital returns, which is the base case."
Miners .AXMM advanced 1% on higher copper prices. MET/L
Mining giant BHP BHP.AX slipped 0.3% after unions rejected a wage deal at its Port Hedland operations, paving the way for a two-day strike at the world's largest iron ore export hub this weekend.
Healthcare .AXHJ and real estate stocks .AXRE posted gains of 2.4% and 1.4%, respectively.
Markets are now looking ahead to the August earnings season for signals on the performance and outlook of corporate Australia.
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose by 0.9% to finish at 13,903.46 points.

 (Reporting by Kumar Tanishk in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
 ((Tanishk.Kumar@thomsonreuters.com; X: @thatstanishk;))
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