A rally in energy stocks and a rebound in miners helped push the sharemarket into the green on Wednesday, offsetting sizeable losses from Macquarie Group and Aristocrat Leisure.

The S&P/ASX 200 lifted 0.1 per cent, or by 10.6 points, to close at 8279.6, notching its sixth day of gains after trading in a narrow range. The All Ordinaries inched higher by 0.1 per cent.

The muted price action compared to a strong US session overnight as technology stocks extended a relief rally following a trade truce between America and China. Nvidia helped the advance, jumping 5.6 per cent after US President Donald Trump moved to free up access to countries seeking artificial intelligence chips manufactured in the US.

‘Low beta’

Michael McCarthy, chief executive of investment platform Moomoo, said the sharemarket may be less volatile in the near term after rebounding from its April lows. The ASX 200 soared to an 11-week high on Tuesday.

“I suspect Australia is going into a period of being a low beta market,” he said. “The impact of that will be to cushion any falls when the globe is falling, but also to dampen any gains when the market rises and swings back towards risk assets.”

On the ASX, gains in energy and banks tussled with losses from index bellwethers Macquarie and Aristocrat. Australia’s largest investment bank dropped 1.6 per cent to $211.86 after ASIC announced it was suing its securities business over alleged misreporting of short sales. Gaming company Aristocrat, meanwhile, fell 8.9 per cent to $62.10 after its half-year revenue missed expectations.

On the other side of the ledger, energy stocks extended a bull run as Brent crude held above $US66 a barrel. Woodside climbed 3.4 per cent to $22.31 and petrol producer Ampol 1.7 per cent to $26.77. Separately, Woodside said Aramco was mulling an equity interest in its Louisiana LNG project, with the pair exploring a collaboration in lower-carbon ammonia.

A rebound in the major miners also buoyed the index, with iron ore giant BHP up 0.6 per cent to $39.45 and Fortescue climbing 2.2 per cent to $16.97.

Stocks in focus

Commonwealth Bank, ASX 200’s largest stock by market value, rose 0.8 per cent to $167.50 after its quarterly earnings update fell in line with expectations and profit rose 6 per cent. National Australia Bank tracked the advance, rising 1.4 per cent to $36.10, while Westpac slipped.

Life360 jumped 9.5 per cent to $29.75 and extended Tuesday’s rally after its quarterly earnings result beat consensus. Morgan Stanley raised its sales guidance for FY26 and FY27 for the company after the market update.

DigiCo Infrastructure REIT jumped 4.8 per cent to $3.29, boosted by its entry into the MSCI Australia Index.

Insignia tumbled 15.8 per cent to $3.37 after Bain Capital withdrew its bid for the wealth manager owing to “macro uncertainty” and volatility in global markets.

And Mayne Pharma sank 15.6 per cent to $5.73. The company told investors it had withdrawn a marketing presentation after a US regulator alleged it made misleading claims about its oral contraceptive, Nextstellis.