The local share market has finished higher after the Reserve Bank adopted a more neutral outlook on interest rates, discarding language suggesting another rate hike was possible.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Tuesday finished up 27.4 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 7,703.2, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 32.6 points, or 0.41 per cent, to 7,957.8.
As was almost universally expected, the Reserve Bank left the cash rate on hold at 4.35 per cent on Tuesday afternoon, but its accompanying statement dropped language from its previous statement that "a further increase in interest rates cannot be ruled out".
Instead the RBA said the path of interest rates that best tames inflation "remains uncertain and the Board is not ruling anything in or out", a stylistic tweak that economists noted.
NAB head of market economics Tapas Strickland said that overall, RBA governor Michele Bullock's press conference and the central bank's statement suggested the board was firmly in wait-and-see mode, without an explicit bias towards rate hikes.
NAB continued to predict the RBA won't cut rates until November, Mr Strickland added.
Others such as AMP say rate cuts could come as soon as June, depending on how economic data unfolds.
"Inflation readings remain critical and in my view the RBA would like to see both the March and June quarter CPI data before deciding on a rate cut," said GSFM investment strategist Stephen Miller.
That June quarter CPI data won't be released until July 31, so if that's the case the soonest a rate cut could come would be at the RBA's August 6 meeting.
"Too 'sticky' an inflation rate could still upset any emergent positive narrative on policy rate reductions," Mr Miller added.
Also on Tuesday, the Bank of Japan scrapped its negative interest rate policy enacted in 2016, raising rates for the first time since 2007 and ending certain asset purchases.
The Federal Reserve has its own meeting early on Thursday, Australia time, a day that will also see decisions from the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank.
Seven of the ASX's 11 sectors finished lower on Tuesday and just four ended higher, but the biggest mover was the heavyweight mining sector, which rose 2.1 per cent.
BHP added 2.8 per cent to $43.59, Fortescue climbed 3.6 per cent to $24.54 and Rio Tinto gained 2.5 per cent to $120.39.
The Big Four banks all closed lower, with CBA dropping 0.6 per cent to $115.78, ANZ dipping 0.2 per cent to $28.80 and Westpac and NAB both losing 0.3 per cent, to $26.25 and $33.94, respectively.
In the energy sector, New Hope Corporation rose 3.8 per cent after the coalminer announced a half-year profit of $251.7 million, down from $668.6 million a year ago.
Chief executive Rob Bishop said disciplined cost control had enabled New Hope to maintain strong margins despite coal prices retreating from recent record highs.
Pacific Smiles rose 11.4 per cent to $1.66 after the dental chain's board said it was inclined to support a new, higher non-binding takeover offer from Genesis Capital, which has floated a figure of $1.75 per share.
Boral rose 2.4 per cent to $6.33 and Seven Group Holdings climbed 1.6 per cent to $41.59 after Boral's board said it was recommending shareholders reject a takeover offer from Seven Group, its majority shareholder.
Bellevue Gold rose 7.0 per cent to a more than decade-high of $1.83 after the mid-tier goldminer announced extremely high-grade ore shoots had been found at its Deacon project in WA it is working to develop.
The Australian dollar was buying 65.17 US cents, down from 65.65 US cents at Monday's ASX close.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Tuesday up 27.4 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 7,703.2
* The broader All Ordinaries gained 32.6 points, or 0.41 per cent, to 7,957.8
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 65.17 US cents, from 65.65 US cents at Monday's ASX close
* 98.09 Japanese yen, from 97.89 yen
* 59.96 Euro cents, from 60.29 Euro cents
* 51.27 British pence, from 51.56 pence
* 107.63 NZ cents, from 107.74 NZ cents
