The local bourse has held its ground in a day of choppy trading in which surging miners outweighed losses across much of the market.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Wednesday finished up 4.3 points, or 0.06 per cent, at 7,519.2, extending its gains to a fourth consecutive session, albeit marginally.
The broader All Ordinaries rose 6.0 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 7,748.1.
Local tech stocks faltered despite a positive lead overnight from Wall Street, where the tech-heavy Nasdaq continued its impressive run amid AI excitement and hopes of imminent Federal Reserve rate cuts.
It climbed another 0.4 per cent to a fresh two-year high.
BetaShares chief economist David Bassanese said some analysts were a little “gobsmacked” by the strength of the United States market’s resurgence, but big tech companies were showing impressive earnings resilience, despite their high valuations.
Netflix shares surged eight per cent in after-hours trading after it revealed more than 13 million new subscribers signed up in the December quarter.
Domestically, technology stocks were the worst performers, down 1.2 per cent.
Seven of the 11 official ASX sectors were in the red but were balanced out by materials stocks which soared 1.3 per cent higher.
Several miners reported better-than-expected production results, while lithium stocks bounced back from a heavy sell-off in recent days amid a slide in the price of the critical mineral.
Lithium miner Pilbara Minerals jumped 5.8 per cent after beating production expectations, although the company announced it would cut capital expenditure and hold off on paying a dividend amid the ongoing price slump.
Northern Star was up six per cent after the gold miner reaffirmed its guidance for the financial year following a slightly better-than-expected result for the second quarter.
Heavyweight iron ore miners BHP and Fortescue climbed 1.2 per cent, while Rio Tinto firmed 0.9 per cent.
Real estate companies also enjoyed solid gains.
Bunnings landlord BWP Trust slid two per cent after announcing it had reached a merger agreement with Newmark Property, which shot up 36.6 per cent.
As part of the deal, BWP will pay $246.8 million to Newmark shareholders, representing a 43 per cent premium.
Newmark chairman Michael Doble welcomed the offer, citing the "compelling" opportunity to participate in a larger merged group with lower gearing, given the high interest rate environment.
Oil and gas giant Woodside dipped 0.4 per cent after reporting record production for 2023.
But the Perth-based company's production guidance of 185 to 195 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) for 2024 fell below analyst estimates and will likely lead to downward revisions, RBC Capital Markets analyst Gordon Ramsay said.
Health-care company Nanosonics suffered the biggest loss of the day.
The disinfectant manufacturer's share price plunged by a third to $2.91 - its lowest level in five years - after reporting softer-than-expected sales in the second half of 2023.
Online retailer Kogan rocketed 14.9 per cent higher after increasing profitability to beat earnings expectations for the first half of the financial year.
The "big four" banks were all down.
CBA fell 0.8 per cent, Westpac dropped 0.3 per cent, NAB weakened 0.2 per cent and ANZ was down 0.1 per cent.
Across the ditch, New Zealand inflation figures slowed in the fourth quarter to 4.7 per cent, in line with consensus estimates but below the Reserve Bank NZ's forecast.
JPMorgan Australia and New Zealand chief economist Ben Jarman expects annual headline inflation to be close to the central bank's target band by the middle of the year.
"RBNZ Chief Economist Conway speaks next week, and we expect will have to start laying the foundations for a shift in the RBNZ's narrative given how out of market the November projections now sit," he said in a note.
The NZ dollar fell against its Australian counterpart as a result.
The Australian dollar was buying 65.71 US cents, from 66.02 US cents at Tuesday’s ASX close.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Wednesday up 4.3 points, or 0.06 per cent, at 7,519.2.
* The broader All Ordinaries climbed 6.0 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 7,748.1.
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 65.71 US cents, from 66.02 US cents at Tuesday’s ASX close
* 97.18 Japanese yen, from 97.65 Japanese yen
* 60.52 Euro cents, from 60.57 Euro cents
* 51.76 British pence, from 51.87 pence
* 107.72 NZ cents, from 108.20 NZ cents.
