ASX Today Live News & Analysis

Strong miners and IT stocks have helped push Australia's share market higher despite a slip in banks and the energy sector, as oil prices butt up against global uncertainty.

The S&P/ASX200 rose 12.8 points on Wednesday, or 0.15 per cent, to 8,695.6, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 21.1 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 9,018.

Eight of 11 local sectors ended the session higher, with raw materials, IT stocks, consumer staples and health care stocks notching solid gains, counterbalancing weakness in energy stocks (-2.3 per cent) and financials (-1.0 per cent).

All big four banks slipped 1.5 per cent or more, as a combination of factors weighed on some of the bourse's most valuable companies, despite softer-than-expected November inflation boosting sentiment earlier in the session, Capital.com senior market analyst Kyle Rodda said.

"Whenever you see the prospects of a pretty sluggish growth economy while interest rates are staying steady or potentially going higher, that's not good for the bank's spread, and it's coming alongside valuation concerns," Mr Rodda told AAP.

"And despite inflation at the headline level coming down a bit more than expected, there's still a high probability rates will move higher rather than lower."

Gold prices retreated during the session, easing to $US4,464 ($A6,600) an ounce, after climbing to almost within one per cent of its record high $US4,550 an ounce, supporting names like Evolution (up 1.3 per cent), and Greatland Resources, which surged 5.6 per cent on a strong production update.

Iron ore giants BHP and Rio Tinto each advanced at least one per cent, as iron ore futures sailed to 11-month highs.

Metals prices have been broadly supported by an overarching theme of nations trying to build out their economic and strategic capacity, which requires increasingly scarce, critical resources, Mr Rodda said.

Lynas Rare Earths was the top-200's best performer, up more than 14 per cent, after China banned dual use items, including some rare earths, from export to Japan for military use.

Battery minerals producers also gained, with lithium miner Liontown Resources up 4.6 per cent to $2.03

Energy stocks continued to face volatility as traders mulled the ramifications of the United States' intervention in Venezuela, after oil prices slumped on news Caracas and Washington had agreed to on-sell up to 50 million barrels of seized crude.

Woodside and Santos each slid almost three per cent lower, while coal producers and uranium stocks were mixed.

Health care stocks rebounded 0.9 per cent after slipping to multi-year lows on Tuesday, tracking strength in CSL, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, and a 12 per cent boost to 4DMedical on the back of its latest licensing deal.

In company news, Southern Cross Media shares, under its new SXL market code, slipped 1.3 per cent to 80 cents on low trading volume, after its merger with Seven West Media was finalised last month.

The Australian dollar reached 14-month highs before easing to 67.53 US cents, up from 67.27 US cents on Tuesday at 5pm.

ON THE ASX:

The S&P/ASX200 rose 12.8 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 8,695.6.

The broader All Ordinaries fell 21.1 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 9,018

The NZX 50 added 51.44 points (0.38%) to 13,715.02 while the Nikkei dropped -556.10 points (-1.07%) at the time of writing, to be closed at 51,961.98