ASX Today Live News & Analysis

Australia's share market has clutched a second straight session of gains but continued to trade within a tight range as investors mull ongoing geopolitical concerns.

The S&P/ASX200 rose 25.2 points on Thursday, up 0.29 per cent to 8,720.8, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 28.5 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 9,046.5.

Energy stocks edged 0.3 per cent as oil prices remained under pressure in the wake of US intervention in Venezuela, but the outlook for global equities was sound despite ongoing uncertainty, Moomoo market strategist Jessica Amir said.

"The fact that we've got the S&P500 and the Dow Jones hitting brand new historical record all-time highs is a really positive indicator that 2026 is going to be a good year," Ms Amir told AAP.

"If you dive into where the most momentum is, it's telling you where you should be paying attention - the VIX markets fear gauge has pricked up again, and so we're seeing overnight and today, defence ETFs and defence investments are hitting unprecedented levels."

The only sector behind by the close was raw materials, which ran into some profit-taking after breaking its previous record high in the two most recent sessions.

While many miners slipped, aluminium, iron ore, nickel, copper and other base metals all rose after the greenback dipped on softer-than-expected economic data that supported the case for further US rate cuts.

Large-cap miners BHP, Rio Tinto, and Fortescue all fell behind, while gold miners retreated as the precious metal's spot price eased to $US4,426 ($A6,604) an ounce, as the All Ordinaries gold sub-industry gave up 1.7 per cent.

BlueScope Steel shares faded 1.6 per cent to $29.40 after it rejected a "highly opportunistic" takeover bid from a consortium including the Stokes family-controlled SGH and US-listed Steel Dynamics.

Shares in engineering company Monadelphous rose another 2.2 per cent after it announced $110 million in new contracts, a day after securing a major construction deal with BHP.

IT stocks, health care plays and the consumer discretionary sector each traded 1.4 per cent or more higher, rebounding from weakness in recent days with broad-based rallies.

The heavyweight financials sector also clocked its first win in four sessions, with Westpac up 1.3 per cent to $38.01, leading the big four banks higher.

Ansell was the top-200's worst performer, shedding more than six per cent after flagging the departure of boss Neil Salmon, who will be replaced by Fiskars Group CEO and president Nathalie Ahlstrom.

The Australian dollar was buying 67.03 US cents, down from 67.53 US cents on Wednesday at 5pm.

ON THE ASX:

The S&P/ASX200 rose 25.2 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 8,720.8

The broader All Ordinaries fell 28.5 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 9,046.5

The NZX 50 added 1.84 points (0.01%) to 13,716.86 while the Nikkei dropped -844.72 points (-1.65%) at the time of writing, to be closed at 51,117.26