After a volatile, stomach-churning opening drop that sent the Australian benchmark index down 134 points at Tuesday’s opening bell, Australia’s sharemarket staged a remarkable afternoon recovery, driven by shifting investor sentiment around Middle East tensions and growing expectations of an Australian interest rate cut. While both the benchmark ASX 200 and broader All Ordinaries still closed in negative territory by session end, the partial rebound erased much of the early session’s steep losses that followed widespread global market downturns over the prior two trading days. The ASX 200 finished the day down just 0.24% (20.90 points) to settle at 8604.20, while the All Ordinaries closed 0.35% lower (31.10 points) at 8824.80, a far better outcome than the catastrophic opening numbers had forecast. The Australian dollar also gained ground against the U.S. dollar, rising 0.25% to hit 70.54 U.S. cents by market close.
Australian shares fight back from sharp falls as retailers rally against miners
