ASX200 lifts 0.3% as iron ore futures tag US$133

The news: Miners lifted the Australian sharemarket higher on Tuesday, buoyed by a rally in the iron ore price. The benchmark ASX 200 gained 0.28% to close at 7,078.20. The Aussie dollar continued to rise against the greenback and is trading at 65.8 US cents.

The numbers: Only four of the 11 sectors finished in the green, but a 1.4% gain in materials stocks led by BHP (+1.5%), Rio Tinto (+2.0) and Northern Star (+3.7%) did most of the heavy lifting, as Singapore iron ore prices rallied 2% to $US133.75. Energy stocks rose 0.4%, despite oil futures rolling over as global demand fears outweighed Monday's OPEC+ supply cut concerns. Brent crude is trading at roughly USD82.02 per barrel, with its West Texas counterpart fetching $77.56 after losing 0.35% on Tuesday.

The context: Downer and Medibank will hold AGM's tomorrow morning. Nvidia will post quarterly results overnight tonight, with investors keenly watching for fundamental confirmation of the hype surrounding the AI boom. Notes from the FOMC monetary policy meeting will come out at 6am AEDT, three weeks after the Federal Reserve announced its funds rate. Tomorrow evening, Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock will discuss Australia's economic outlook and monetary policy at the Australian Business Economists annual dinner.