News: RIO Miners, banks drive Australian shares higher

Australian shares rose on Tuesday as miners and banks rallied, with investors awaiting minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting this week to gauge the U.S. central bank' rate-hike path.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) rose 0.6% to 7,183.2 points, with most indexes trading higher. The benchmark fell 0.2% on Monday.

Aiding sentiment, a Fed official overnight stated the central bank could ease on its aggressive rate hike path from next month for the economy to get adjusted to the slew of interest-rate decisions taken.

"The Fed speakers suggested that they are potentially entering into a restrictive phase of the hiking cycle, because that means that they may look at not just slowing down, but also potentially pausing," Azeem Sheriff, a market analyst from CMC Markets said.

Australia's mining index was the top gainer on the benchmark, adding 0.9%, with the iron ore behemoths Rio Tinto (RIO) and BHP Group (BHP) advancing 0.7% and 0.9%.

The energy index .AXEJ followed suit, gaining about 1.8%, while domestic technology stocks .AXIJ rose 0.5%.

However, investors also took into account of weaker commodity prices overnight as China struggled with a resurgent COVID-19 wave, prompting lockdowns in prominent industrial hubs, thereby denting global demand outlook.

The financial sector .AXFJ , the second-biggest sector in the benchmark in terms of market value, traded 0.5% higher, with the country's largest banks rising between 0.1% and 1%.

The gold index .AXGD was the outlier in the bourse, falling about 0.1%, as prices of the precious metal dropped owing to a stronger dollar.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) fell 0.4% to 11,393.1 points.

The country posted a monthly trade deficit of NZ$2.129 billion ($1.30 billion) in October. ($1 = 1.6364 New Zealand dollars)