Ramelius Resources Limited

Australian shares touched an all-time high on Tuesday, boosted by financial stocks and strong earnings from blue-chip companies fibre cement maker James Hardie and annuities provider Challenger.

Australian stocks closed at a record high on Wednesday, boosted by miners after iron ore prices rose, while shares of Afterpay paused after a two-day run of stellar gains.

Australian shares fell on Tuesday as a slump in mining and energy stocks outweighed a sharp gain for the second day in buy now, pay later firm Afterpay.

Australian shares touched a record high on Monday as Afterpay Ltd jumped after U.S.-based Square Inc agreed to buy the buy now, pay later firm for $29 billion, with the tech index being on track for its best day in nearly a decade.

Australian shares closed higher on Wednesday, outweighing any investor concerns after a lockdown was extended in the country's most populous city, with heavyweight gold miners helping offset turmoil in the buy-now, pay-later sector.

Australian shares slipped on Wednesday after posting their best session in nearly four months, as gold and energy stocks lost ground after underlying commodity prices fell overnight.

Australian shares snapped a two-day losing streak to close higher on Wednesday as mild quarterly data showed a paucity of inflation and doused investor concerns over a sooner-than-expected interest rate hike.

Australian shares gave up early gains on Tuesday to trade lower as heavyweight miners declined in tandem with copper prices, although a bounce-back in technology stocks limited losses.

Australian shares climbed on Wednesday after a much faster-than-expected economic growth in the final quarter of 2020 cemented hopes of a stronger recovery this year.

Australian shares snapped a three-day winning streak to close lower on Thursday, as healthcare and gold stocks declined, while power retailer Origin Energy was the biggest loser on the index after slashing outlook for its energy markets division.

* Financials fall 1% hours after posting best run in over a month

Australian shares fell on Tuesday, with energy and gold stocks leading the declines, as oil prices dropped and investors exited risky assets over concerns of a new highly transmissible coronavirus strain in Britain.

* Afterpay surges on strong Q1 underlying sales (Updates to close)

Australian shares gave up early gains to close lower on Tuesday as a rise in coronavirus cases stoked concerns of a stricter lockdown, while data showed employment was hit due to restrictions placed earlier.

* Tech stocks, miners limit gains on benchmark (Updates to close)

Australian shares rose on Tuesday, as promising trial results from potential COVID-19 vaccines buoyed sentiment ahead of a speech by the country's central bank governor on the pandemic.