The local share market has edged lower, with gains by Woodside, BHP and Coles outweighed by losses from the big banks, Johns Lyng and Lovisa on a busy day for company earnings reports.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Tuesday down 13.3 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 8,071.2, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 14.4 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 8,297.1.
It was just the ASX's second day of losses in the past 13 sessions and in both cases the falls were modest.
Overnight, Brent crude prices hit a week-and-a-half high of $US81 a barrel after Libya ordered all of the country's oil fields closed amid a flare-up of tensions over the leadership of the country's central bank.
Domestically, a weekly consumer confidence survey by ANZ and Roy Morgan found that while confidence eased slightly last week, renters were expressing their highest confidence since March 2023.
Six of the ASX's 11 sectors finished lower, four finished higher and property was flat.
Energy was the biggest gainer, climbing 2.3 per cent as Australia's largest oil and gas producer reported earnings.
Woodside rose 3.9 per cent to a nearly four-week high of $27.42 after announcing its underlying net profit fell 14 per cent to $US1.63 billion ($A2.41 billion) for the six months to June 30.
"We continue to deliver on our strategy to thrive through the energy transition whilst maintaining our disciplined capital management," Woodside chief executive Meg O'Neill said.
BHP rose 1.3 per cent to $41.35 even as the big Australian reported a slump in full-year net profit after writedowns and other charges and warned commodity prices hadn't stabilised.
"In the near term, we expect volatility in global commodity markets, with China experiencing an uneven recovery," chief executive Mike Henry said.
Coles gained 1.7 per cent to a two-year high of $18.77 after the supermarket giant grew its normalised full-year profit by 2.1 per cent, to $1.1 billion.
With supermarkets under scrutiny in Canberra, Coles chief executive Leah Weckert emphasised in a call with reporters her company made less than three cents in profit for every dollar spent in its stores.
Johns Lyng Group plunged 27.1 per cent to a three-year low of $4.06 after the building services group reported a 9.6 per cent drop in revenue, to $1.16 billion.
Guzman y Gomez rose 3.2 per cent to $37 after the Mexican-inspired fast food chain posted its first earnings result as a public company, reporting that full-year sales grew 26.4 per cent to $959.7 million.
Other companies gaining after posting earnings included ultrasound probe disinfection company Nanosonics (up 22.6 per cent), project delivery company Worley (2.8 per cent), cloud software company Readytech Holdings (4.8 per cent), gold analysis firm Chrysos Corp (7.1 per cent) and carbon dioxide capture company Calix (3.5 per cent).
Others dropping after releasing earnings included fashion retailer Lovisa (down 13.0 per cent), buy now, pay later company Zip (7.9 per cent), mining equipment company Austin Engineering (10.6 per cent), defence contractors Electro Optic Systems (10.3 per cent) and Droneshield (8.2 per cent) and car leasing company SG Fleet Group (8.2 per cent).
All of the big four banks finished lower, with CBA and NAB both dropping 1.0 per cent, to $137.43 and $37.36 respectively, while Westpac slipped 0.6 per cent to $30.49 and ANZ dipped 0.2 per cent to $29.62.
The Australian dollar was buying 67.86 US cents, from 67.73 US cents at Monday's ASX close.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Tuesday down 13.3 points, or 0.16 per cent, at 8,071.2.
* The All Ordinaries dropped 14.4 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 8,297.1
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 67.86 US cents, from 67.73 US cents at Monday's ASX close
* 98.27 Japanese yen, from 97.34 Japanese yen
* 60.78 euro cents, from 60.57 euro cents
* 51.44 British pence, from 51.31 pence
* 109.08 NZ cents, from 109.11 NZ cents
