Australian shares have edged higher as some blue chip companies slipped on earnings reports while several smaller tech companies soared.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Tuesday up 6.1 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 7,121.6, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 10.5 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 7,346.4.
With no pressing macroeconomic news, the day was dominated by earnings reports by some of the country's biggest companies.
BHP fell 0.7 per cent to $43.21 after the Big Australian announced a 58 per cent fall in net profit to $US12.9 billion ($A20.1 billion), amid cost pressures and global economic uncertainty.
Woodside dropped 1.0 per cent to $38.06 as the petroleum giant recorded a half-year profit of $US1.7 billion, up six per cent from the previous year.
Coles plunged 7.1 per cent to a year and a half low low of $16.235 as the supermarket giant announced 4.8 per cent rise in profit to $1.1 billion, marginally missing consensus expectations.
Coles also reported stagnant liquor sales, continuing food inflation in bakery and dairy products and an industry-wide surge in shoplifting.
The tech sector enjoyed its best day in 14 months, finishing 5.2 per cent higher thanks in part to double-digit gains by Altium and Megaport, and perhaps also boosted by a tech rally on Wall Street following Nvidia's earnings.
Altium surged 25.9 per cent to an all-time closing high of $46.44 after the Sydney-based printed circuit board software company reported better-than-expected earnings and subscriber growth.
"What is remarkable is that Altium is performing strongly while investing more than ever before in transformation to deliver sustainable long-term financial performance," commented interim chief financial officer Richard Leon.
Megaport gained 16.9 per cent to a 16-month high of $12.15 after the cloud connectivity company raised its 2023/24 guidance and announced it expected to be cash-flow positive for the year.
"Megaport delivered an incredible $20.2 million of normalised EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization), our first-ever positive year," CEO Michael Read said.
But Data#3 fell 18.9 per cent to 10-month low of $6.10 after the IT services provider announced its full-year profit was up 22.4 per cent to $37 million.
In the financial sector, Hub24 climbed 11.3 per cent to a nearly two-year high of $31.20 after the platform for wealth management organisations announced a share buyback of up to $50 million and that its full-year profit had grown 160 per cent to $38.2 million.
The Big Four banks were all higher, with Westpac and NAB both climbing 1.3 per cent, to $20.88 and $27.93, respectively. ANZ added 0.3 per cent to $24.30 and CBA gained 0.2 per cent to $98.67.
Kogan.com fell 11.2 per cent to $5.07 as the online retailer announced a full-year loss of $25.9 million.
Founder Ruslan Kogan highlighted that the business was now deriving the majority of its gross sales and gross profit from third-party sellers, which he said offers higher margin at lower risk.
Scentre Group gained 3.8 per cent to $2.74 after the Westfield owner announced that its half-year net operating income had grown 10 per cent to $981.9 million, a record for the first half.
Customer visitations were up 9.8 per cent to 314 million, thanks in part to partnerships with Disney and Netball Australia to create what the company called "extraordinary experiences" for its customers.
Others reporting earnings included Perenti Global down 12.4 per cent to $1.06; Service Stream, which dropped 5.1 per cent to 84.5c; Mader Group up 8.5 per cent to $7.31; and Allkem, which gained 1.7 per cent to $14.10.
In currency, the Australian dollar was buying 64.39 US cents, from 64.16 US cents at Monday's ASX close.
ON THE ASX:
* The S&P/ASX200 index finished Tuesday up 6.1 points, or 0.09 per cent, at 7,121.6.
* The All Ordinaries gained 10.5 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 7,346.4.
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 64.39 US cents, from 64.16 US cents at Monday's ASX close
* 93.89 Japanese yen, from 93.11 Japanese yen
* 58.95 Euro cents, from 58.86 Euro cents
* 50.34 British pence, from 50.29 pence
* 108.08 NZ cents, from 108.25 NZ cents.
