Modest rises to Origin Energy (0.2 per cent) and APA (0.3 per cent) lifted the utilities sector, while New Zealand power generator Contact Energy jumped 5 per cent.

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The laggards

Amcor, the world’s largest consumer packaging group, saw its shares fall 1.2 per cent after announcing it had bought Berry Group, a New York-listed maker of prescription vials, bags and other products, in an all-stock deal for $13 billion.

Mining heavyweight BHP slipped 0.6 per cent, falling for a second day amid the geopolitical jitters. Home sidings maker James Hardie lost 2 per cent, Telstra fell 2.3 per cent and TPG Telecom shed 2 per cent.

Nick Scali saw its shares fall 1.7 per cent after one of the furniture retailer’s freight forwarders and customs agents fell into liquidation, causing delays in product deliveries that it said were “adding significant risks” to reaching a first-half profit forecast of $30 million to $33 million.

Automotive cooling products maker PWR Holdings slumped 24.6 per cent after warning that lower demand and higher production costs meant its first-half net profit would dwindle to as low as $3.2 million, down from $9.8 million last year.

The lowdown

BetaShares chief economist David Bassanese said the market saw a reaction to a potential escalation of the Russia and Ukraine war after Russian officials said they had shot down five of the six long-range weapons Ukraine had fired into its territory.

Hours later, Russian President Vladimir Putin formally lowered the threshold for Russia’s use of nuclear weapons, a move quickly condemned by the US as “bellicose and irresponsible”. The increasing geopolitical risks increased caution among investors, while global oil prices remained broadly unchanged.

“It set global markets back, and we’ve taken some of that, but given the threat of nuclear retaliation, you’d argue it was a fairly muted warning, and that people are taking Putin’s words with a grain of salt,” Bassanese said.

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Overnight on Wall Street, Nvidia helped pull US stock indexes higher on Tuesday after they stumbled in the morning on worries about the Russia-Ukraine war.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4 per cent after erasing an early drop of 0.7 per cent. The Nasdaq composite also shook off an early loss to turn 1 per cent higher, while the Dow Jones slipped 120 points, or 0.3 per cent.

Nvidia’s 4.9 per cent climb accounted for the vast majority of the index’s gain. The chip company’s stock rallied ahead of its profit report for the latest quarter, due on Wednesday (Thursday morning AEDT), and vaulted its gain for the year to nearly 197 per cent thanks to the craze around artificial intelligence technology.

Nvidia’s rise helped calm the US market, even as indexes sank across Europe over the war escalation fears. Both France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX fell 0.7 per cent.

The worries also sent investors into US Treasury bonds, which are seen as some of the world’s safest investments. The rise in their prices lowered their yields, and the 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.39 per cent from 4.41 per cent late on Monday.

Gold also rose 0.6 per cent and recovered some of the losses it sustained following Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, as investors herded into places traditionally considered safer during times of trouble.

Tweet of the day

Quote of the day

“We know Australians are still under pressure, but we’re confident, not complacent, that the worst of the inflation challenge is now behind us.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers in his ministerial statement on the economy to the House of Representatives. Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor rebuked Chalmer’s comments, saying Labor had made a “bad situation worse” since coming to power in May 2022.

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