The Australian sharemarket opened higher on Wednesday morning, tracking a move up on Wall Street overnight after the US government signalled its intention to back away from offensive operations against Iran.
The S&P/ASX 200 rose 50.9 points or 0.59 per cent to 8731.40 at 10.10am AEST , with six of the 11 sectors higher.
The move up comes after US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday morning AEST that an American naval operation to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz would be paused in a bid to get Iran to agree to a peace deal to end the conflict.
Whether Australian markets can keep following US equities up depends on the strength of the Wall Street rally, according to Moomoo Australia dealing manager Paco Chow.
"The question remains if the US rally can keep going in the face of any new tariff shocks or a hotter-than-expected inflation pulse," said Chow. "The US-China leaders' summit, set for Beijing on May 14-15, may be the next test.
"Investors will treat it as a pressure valve for global trade risk, even if no breakthrough is guaranteed."
Oil prices stayed lower after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters at a White House briefing that combat operations against Iran had ceased, and that the US military's efforts had turned to protecting ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude traded at $US108 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate was hovering just above $US100 a barrel.
On the ASX, the pullback in oil translated into a fall in energy stocks, with Woodside Energy down 1.31 per cent while Santos dropped 0.76 per cent. Ampol fell 0.82 per cent.
That made the energy sector the worst performer on the local bourse - down 1.21 per cent at the open. Financials were the strongest, led by gains in the big four banks following Tuesday's decision by the Reserve Bank to raise the cash rate to 4.35 per cent, its third increase in as many board meetings.
Shares in Commonwealth Bank climbed 1.6 per cent, while Westpac shares rose 1.81 per cent and stocks in ANZ rose 0.95 per cent. Shares in National Australia Bank jumped 2.31 per cent.
Industrials also rose at the open, with shares in Brambles up 0.84 per cent while stocks in plumbing giant Reece rose 2.24 per cent.
Stocks in focus
In company news, stocks in David Di Pilla-backed DigiCo soared 17.37 per cent at the open, after the data centre developer announced it had sold its Chicago site for $1 billion. It comes as the company looks to offload its North American locations in favour of expanding its flagship Sydney data centre.
Meanwhile, toll road group Atlas Arteria was up 0.21 per cent after its board told shareholders to reject a $6.9 billion hostile takeover bid from IFM Investors. The board said that the offer was designed to "accelerate IFM's creep to effective control", and that it materially undervalued the company.
Shares in technology retailer JB Hi-FI fell 1.98 per cent after chief executive Nick Wells warned the business had seen significant supplier component-related cost increases and stock availability shortages, driven by the building of data centres.

Sumber : AFR