ASX inches 0.2% higher, Aussie dollar enjoys small rally

The news: The benchmark ASX 200 traded mostly flat on Tuesday, inching up 0.19% to 6,856.90, with the All Ordinaries gaining 0.22%. The Aussie dollar is buying 63.6 US cents compared with 63.1 US cents this time yesterday. Oil prices eased on hopes of a delay to Israeli's military incursion into Gaza, with West Texas crude at USD85.86 per barrel. Bitcoin rallied more then 10% to its highest level since May 2022 and is buying USD34,473 ($54,225).

The numbers: Most sectors were flat, although consumer staples took a 1% hit, with Woolworths and Coles losing 1.1% and 1.0% respectively, and pubs, pokies and bottle shop owner Endeavour dropping 1.4%. Materials gained 0.9%, with solid gains from Fortescue (+2.4%) and Rio (+1.5%).

The context: Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock will deliver a speech to CBA's Global Markets Conference in Sydney tonight at 7pm AEDT. The ABS will release inflation data tomorrow morning. Dexus, Tabcorp and Super Retail will hold their AGMs tomorrow. PMI data is due overnight for the USA, France, Germany and the UK. Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet will post results after the New York close tomorrow morning AEDT.