Dec 19 (Reuters) - Australian shares recovered on Tuesday led by energy stocks, as investors absorbed mixed signals from U.S. Federal Reserve officials about interest rate cut expectations in 2024.
The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.2% to 7,438.8 by 2320 GMT. The benchmark ended 0.2% lower on Monday.
Starting last week, a number of Fed officials made comments that watered down expectations of how abruptly the U.S. central bank would pivot to rate cuts.
These comments landed after investors celebrated the dovish remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell when the central bank's year-end monetary policy meeting ended with a rate hold and signals of rate cuts in 2024. In Sydney, energy stocks drove gains on the benchmark, jumping 0.9%, in line with global gains in oil prices.
Shares of top energy firms Woodside Energy and Santos were up 1.0% and 0.3%, respectively.
Gold index was up 0.6% as bullion prices rose, with shares of Northern Star Resources up 0.8.
The heavyweight mining index inched up 0.2%, with Fortescue and Rio Tinto rising 0.9% and 0.3%, respectively.
Technology stocks followed the upward move on the benchmark and climbed 0.2%, tracking overnight gains in their Wall Street peers. Shares of Xero traded 1.5% higher.
Azure Minerals rose as much as 2.2% after the lithium developer received a sweetened takeover offer from Chile's SQM and Hancock Prospecting, implying an equity value of A$1.70 billion ($1.14 billion) for Azure.
Investors now await U.S. data on core personal consumption expenditure (PCE) index due on Dec. 22 for cues about the Fed's future policy decisions.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index traded marginally higher by 0.1% to 11,553.1. ($1 = 1.4916 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Adwitiya Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
