ASX Today Live News & Analysis

Australia's share market has defied a hawkish interest rate outlook to clock a second session of gains, as reports of a record release of crude reserves took the pressure off oil prices.

The S&P/ASX200 rose 50.9 points on Wednesday, up 0.59 per cent, to 8,743.5, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 52.6 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 8,976.8.

Oil prices dipped over the session after the International Energy Agency proposed the largest-ever release of crude reserves.

But worries remain with the Straight of Hormuz route effectively closed as air strikes still rain down on multiple key producer nations.

IEA's 32 member nations, which hold at least 1.2 billion barrels in emergency supplies, are expected to decide on the proposal later on Wednesday.

Sliding oil prices helped the local bourse shrug off a sharp repricing of interest rate expectations, with rates markets now tipping an 80 per cent chance of a hike at next week's Reserve Bank meeting.

"Basically everything is kind of a derivative of oil prices at the moment," Capital.com senior market analyst Kyle Rodda told AAP.

"There is a temptation to try and find some signal in all of this, but a lot of it's probably noise.

"Nevertheless, oil prices moving lower today, that's good for equities across the Asian region."

Miners and banks provided most of the local market's forward momentum, with strong performances from gold stocks and industrial metals.

Gold itself edged higher to $US5,205 ($A7,253) an ounce, boosting the All Ordinaries sub-industry 1.5 per cent, but still under pressure as the oil shock continues to support the greenback.

Fortescue was the best of the mega miners, up 3.7 per cent, playing catch-up with competitors BHP and Rio Tinto, which clocked slimmer gains as iron ore futures topped $US104 a tonne.

Critical minerals producer were strong ahead of Liontown's interim earnings report, now due on Thursday.

Lynas Rare Earths rocketed more than 16 per cent higher after locking in a price floor with a Japanese buyer for a 12 year supply contract extension.

ANZ was the best of the big four banks as the financials sector rose 0.9 per cent, while major insurers IAG and Suncorp continued to rebound from a conflict-related sell off.

Qantas posted a second session of gains to trade at $8.82, but was still more than 11 per cent below its price ahead of the strikes on Iran, and down more than 17 per cent since its first-half results disappointed investors.

The Australian dollar is trading at nearly four-year highs against the greenback, buying 71.74 US cents, up from 70.77 US cents on Tuesday at 5pm.

The Aussie was supported by softening risk sentiment and as markets priced a higher likelihood of an interest rate cut next week.

"Assuming this is a protracted shock and oil prices keep moving higher, that is a risk to inflation," Mr Rodda said.

"And it's a risk that the RBA may have to tighten policy a little bit more, or at least keep policy in restrictive territory for longer than it would otherwise."

ON THE ASX:

The S&P/ASX200 rose 50.9 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 8,743.5

The broader All Ordinaries gained 52.6 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 8,976.8

The NZX 50 added 198.76 points (1.50%) to 13,293.13 while the Nikkei gained 776.98 points (1.41%) at the time of writing, to be closed at 55,025.37

Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):

Brambles Limited

Breville Group Limited

Cleanaway Waste Management Limited

Imdex Limited

Vulcan Steel Limited