Welcome to HotCopper's The ASX Today for Tuesday of Week 32. I'm Jon Davidson. By mid-afternoon trade, the ASX was up 1.2%, as Brent crude prices fell back toward the US$80 per barrel mark and U.S. earnings season reinvigorated optimism across an otherwise uncertain market. The retreat in oil prices also eases a cost pressure point for businesses and consumers, a supportive backdrop for broader equity sentiment.

In a relatively uncommon turn of events, the ASX was outperforming South Korea's KOSPI index on Tuesday, with the latter trading slightly in the red. The KOSPI has retreated to levels last seen six months ago. Notably, last week's Shanghai listing of Chinese chip giant CXMT — China's largest domestic DRAM manufacturer — also weighed on the Korean index, intensifying competitive concerns for established Korean semiconductor names like Samsung and SK Hynix.

Earlier this year, the so-called "Trump trade" — market movements tied to expectations around US policy direction on trade, taxation, and regulation — defined Japan's NIKKEI. A similar dynamic has since unfolded in Korea, though the United States now appears to be reclaiming its position as the premier public market for AI exposure — driven once again by strong big tech earnings. With the bulk of S&P 500 results still to come, the earnings trajectory of the largest US technology names remains a key variable for global risk appetite, including on the ASX.

Back on the domestic front, IT stocks led the sector gains, rising toward 3.5%. Although technology carries a smaller weighting on the ASX compared with mining and financials, broad-based strength in the sector underscores an appetite for growth-oriented exposures. Wisetech Ltd (ASX: WTC), which has faced recent challenges, gained over 15% over the past week. Megaport (ASX: MP1) was flat on a weekly basis but has posted year-to-date returns exceeding 60%. Xero (ASX: XRO) climbed more than 12% over the same period, while Life360 (ASX: 360) returned 14%.

Given Australia's standing as a mining-centric market, gold remains a key focus. The precious metal was little changed, hovering around US$4,060 per ounce. However, with copper prices approximately 6% higher over the past month — a trend widely linked to demand from global electrification and infrastructure build-out — the impact of declining gold prices on BHP (ASX: BHP) has been relatively contained, given the miner's diversified exposure across both bulk and base metals.

Commonwealth Bank (ASX: CBA) traded higher, up over 1% on Tuesday — a potentially encouraging sign of growing risk appetite among ASX participants. As one of the heaviest single-stock weightings on the index, CBA's trajectory carries outsized influence over ASX direction. CBA continued to trade just above A$180 per share, not far from record levels that many market commentators have described as overvalued.

Among the day's leaders was Droneshield (ASX: DRO), with investor interest showing no signs of abating against a backdrop of elevated global defense spending and rising demand for unmanned-systems countermeasures. PYC Therapeutics (ASX: PYC) jumped 10% to return to the $2 mark. Star Entertainment Group (ASX: SGR) continued its efforts to recover, trading at 14.5 cents per share as of mid-afternoon, though a substantial recovery remains ahead.

Tuesday's laggards were predominantly miners lacking compelling project fundamentals. Notably, Meeka Metals, a former market favourite, continued to struggle.

That's The ASX Today for Tuesday. I'm Jon Davidson. We'll see you on Wednesday.

The material provided in this article is for information only and should not be treated as investment advice. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a certified financial advisor before making any investment decisions.