Australia's banks have lifted the local bourse after a weak start, with IT stocks also rising on the eve of expected softening inflation figures.
The S&P/ASX200 on Tuesday rose 46.6 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 8,407.6, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 42.7 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 8,634.5.
With US markets taking a bank holiday pause, the ASX looked for market direction from Europe, where stock indexes pushed higher overnight on American tariff respite and ongoing trade negotiations with the European Union.
"(Also), I dare say there's a little bit of month-end buying now starting to enter the market," IG Market analyst Tony Sycamore told AAP.
"We're at that time when fund managers start to find surplus cash sitting in their cash trust and they'll generally put that money to work during this period."
Six of 11 local sectors finished higher, led by IT stocks (1.3 per cent), financials (1.1 per cent) and industrials (0.9 per cent), while weaker iron ore and gold prices held miners back.
WiseTech rallied 2.2 per cent and lifted for a second straight day after announcing it would buy US-based cloud logistics provider E2open.
The big four banks staged a strong performance after a flat morning, with Westpac (1.7 per cent) and ANZ (1.4 per cent) leading the gains and NAB and CBA lifting more than 0.8 per cent each.
Macquarie rose 1.4 per cent to $210 per share.
Large cap miners Fortescue and BHP eked out 0.2 per cent gains after spending most of the session in the red, as iron ore prices lingered around the $US99.25 level after trending lower for two weeks.
Gold miners were largely in the red as the commodity slipped 0.6 per cent to $US3,322 ($A5,122) an ounce.
Energy stocks rose 0.5 per cent, despite oil prices edging slightly lower since Monday's ASX close, with Brent crude futures easing to $US64.15 a barrel before an OPEC+ meeting later this week.
Coal plays Yancoal and Whitehaven helped lift the sector with gains of more than one per cent, while uranium stocks ran into resistance after surging late last week on US plans to boost its nuclear energy capacity.
Fisher and Paykel Healthcare helped push its sector 0.9 per cent higher, rallying 2.4 per cent before a widely-tipped interest rate cut by New Zealand's central bank on Wednesday.
This side of the Tasman, the Australian Bureau of Statistics' monthly consumer price index indicator is expected to show inflation continuing to cool, leaving the door open for more Reserve Bank interest rate cuts.
"CPI numbers should confirm what the RBA have already told us, that the disinflation process remains in place," Mr Sycamore said.
"So that's going to keep prospects alive for rate cuts in July and August."
Interest rate markets have priced a 67 per cent chance of an RBA rate cut in July, with a total of 38 basis points priced over the next two meetings.
The Australian dollar is buying 64.71 US cents, down from 65.23 US cents at 5pm on Monday as the greenback recovered some of its recent sell-off.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Tuesday 46.6 points higher, up 0.56 per cent, to 8,407.6
* The broader All Ordinaries rose 42.7 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 8,634.5
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 64.71 US cents, from 65.23 US cents on Monday at 5pm
* 92.86 Japanese yen, from 93.13 Japanese yen
* 56.92 Euro cents, from 57.18 Euro cents
* 47.74 British pence, from 48.06 pence
* 108.22 NZ cents, from 108.30 NZ cents
