Aussies shares inch higher in holiday-shortened trading

The Australian share market has crept higher, building on the previous day's rally as traders digested minutes from the Reserve Bank's latest meeting.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished an abbreviated trading session on Tuesday up 19.3 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 8,220.9, while the broader All Ordinaries rose 18.8 points, or 0.22 per cent, to 8,471.5.

Minutes released from the RBA's December 10-11 meeting showed the board remained concerned about inflation and believed it was too soon to conclude it was under control, but added that additional data could change this perspective.

"If that were to occur, members concluded that it would, in due course, be appropriate to begin relaxing the degree of monetary policy tightness," the minutes read.

JP Morgan analyst Ben Jarman said the commentary was consistent with rate cuts coming but in a relatively shallow cycle.

The investment bank continues to expect the first cut in February.

Eight of the ASX's 11 sectors finished higher on Tuesday, with materials/mining, industrials and consumer discretionaries lower.

Health care and property were the biggest movers, up 0.8 per cent as CSL added 1.0 per cent and GPT Group climbed 2.4 per cent.

The big four banks all posted modest gains, with NAB rising 0.7 per cent to $37.39, ANZ advancing 0.5 per cent to $28.74, Westpac climbing 0.4 per cent to $32.43 and CBA adding 0.3 per cent to $155.12.

In the heavyweight mining sector, Rio Tinto dropped 0.8 per cent to $116.16, while BHP fell 0.4 per cent to $39.73 and Fortescue was flat at $18.40.

St Barbara plunged 34.4 per cent to a six-month low of 20c cents after the goldminer announced that Papua New Guinean authorities had accused its Simberi subsidiary of tax fraud and assessed a tax bill of 523 million kina ($A210 million).

St Barbara said it took the allegations seriously and would vigorously defend them, having always used reputable tax advisors.

Paladin Energy dropped 3.2 per cent to $7.55 after the Perth-headquartered uranium developer completed its all-scrip acquisition of Canada's Fission Uranium Corp.

Karoon Energy rose 0.4 per cent to $1.29 after the oil and gas explorer said production had restarted at the Ba?na oil field off the coast of Brazil after an operational issue forced a temporary shutdown.

With three trading days left in 2024, the ASX200 is up 8.3 per cent since the start of the year - but down 2.6 per cent in December, and 0.6 per cent lower for the December quarter.

On a total return basis - assuming dividends are reinvested - the ASX200 is up 12.2 per cent year-to-date.

Pepperstone head of research Chris Weston said many would consider the ASX200's 2024 performance unremarkable, given the gains in US and Asian equity indices.

The S&P500 is up 25.3 per cent year-to-date, while Japan's Nikkei 225 is up 17.3 per cent.

However, Mr Weston said the ASX200 was a value/higher income equity index and an eight per cent return was still above its long-run average.

Given the poor performance of the ASX200's materials sector and the expected returns at the start of the year, its 2024 performance was not bad, he said.

The Australian dollar was buying 62.35 US cents, from 62.58 US cents at Monday's ASX close.

ON THE ASX:

* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Tuesday gained 19.3 points, or 0.24 per cent, at 8,220.9

* The broader All Ordinaries rose 18.8 points, or 0.22 per cent, at 8,471.5

CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:

One Australian dollar buys:

* 62.35 US cents, from 62.58 US cents at Monday's ASX close

* 97.87 Japanese yen, from 98.01 Japanese yen

* 59.97 euro cents, from 59.94 euro cents

* 49.75 British pence, from 49.75 pence

* 110.50 NZ cents, from 110.61 NZ cents