Aussie shares edge lower after RBA keeps rates on hold

The local share market has finished slightly lower as the Reserve Bank kept rates on hold, even as the mining sector surged on new Chinese stimulus measures.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Tuesday finished 10.9 points lower at 8,142.0, a drop of 0.13 per cent, while the broader All Ordinaries gained nine-tenths of a point to finish at 8,385.1.

Surprising no one, the Reserve Bank kept interest rates on hold at 4.35 per cent on Tuesday.

AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said the RBA's statement and governor Michele Bullock's commentary leaned hawkish, with more emphasis on combating inflation than rising unemployment.

More influential on the ASX perhaps was an announcement by financial regulators in Beijing of a large package of economic stimulus measures.

Iron ore futures spiked more than four per cent after People's Bank of China governor Pan Gongsheng announced Beijing would help banks boost lending, cut a key short-term interest rate, lower existing mortgage rates - and even allow brokers and funds to cash borrow from the PBOC to buy stocks.

Capital.com analyst Kyle Rodda said Chinese authorities had set a fire underneath their markets with the extraordinary measures.

The ASX's materials sector was the best performing on Tuesday, rising 2.4 per cent.

BHP climbed 3.3 per cent to $41.12, Rio Tinto added 3.7 per cent to $116.45 and Fortescue advanced 1.8 per cent to $18.

In the energy sector, uranium developers for a second day were up sharply after a US utility over the weekend announced plans to reopen the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear reactor to power Microsoft's energy-hungry AI operations.

Deep Yellow climbed 10.6 per cent to a two-month high of $1.36, Paladin advanced 10.1 per cent to $10.86 and Boss Energy added 10 per cent to $3.19.

Elsewhere, online fashion retailer Cettire soared an astonishing 79 per cent to a nearly four-month high of $2.38 after auditor Grant Thornton finally signed off on its accounts after a one-month delay.

Fletcher Building rose 7.7 per cent to a four-week high of $2.72 after the Kiwi building company completed a $NZ418 million ($A382 million) capital raising.

Gambling company Light & Wonder dropped 18.4 per cent to an eight-month low of $134.53 after a US judge granted Aristocrat Leisure a preliminary injunction related to Light & Wonder's Dragon Train slot game.

Coles and Woolworths lost ground for a second day following the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission announcing on Monday it was launching legal action against the two supermarkets for allegedly misleading discounting claims.

Woolworths fell 2.9 per cent to a three-month low of $32.80, while Coles dipped 3.0 per cent to a six-week low of $18.03.

The heavyweight financial sector was 1.6 per cent lower, with all of the big four banks in the red.

ANZ fell 1.9 per cent to $31.11, Westpac dropped 2.4 per cent to $32.82, CBA retreated 3.0 per cent to $138.06 and NAB fell 3.0 per cent to $38.50.

The Australian dollar climbed as high as 68.69 US cents in afternoon trading, its highest level since December, before falling sharply.

Close to 5pm the Aussie was buying 68.31 US cents, from 68.11 US cents at Monday's ASX close.

ON THE ASX:

* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Tuesday down 10.9 points, or 0.13 per cent, at 8,142.0

* The All Ordinaries gained nine-tenth of a point, or 0.01 per cent, at 8,385.1.

CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:

One Australian dollar buys:

* 68.31 US cents, up from 68.11 US cents at Monday's ASX close

* 98.64 Japanese yen, from 97.98 Japanese yen

* 61.45 euro cents, from 61.14 euro cents

* 51.14 British pence, from 51.26 pence

* 108.95 NZ cents, from 109.20 NZ cents