The Australian sharemarket slipped on Tuesday, with the benchmark index down 0.6 per cent around lunchtime as weakness in the banking sector weighed on the broader market.

The decline came as investors kept a close watch on oil prices, which were trading near US$100 a barrel amid renewed tensions in the Middle East and uncertainty around shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow chokepoint that carries roughly a fifth of global oil supply and links crude producers in the Gulf to world markets.

Elevated oil prices are also fueling concerns about inflation and interest rates, with bond yields remaining high. That backdrop has weighed on rate-sensitive sectors such as banking, where the big four lenders carry significant weight in the benchmark index and their moves can disproportionately steer the overall market.

The big four banks were among the biggest drags on the index. ANZ fell 2 per cent, while Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and NAB each lost around 1 per cent. Technology stocks were also weaker, with Novonix down more than 6 per cent, and WiseTech and Xero each falling more than 1 per cent.

The major miners slipped despite iron ore moving above US$100 a tonne and copper hitting a fresh high. Rio Tinto fell 0.6 per cent, while BHP dipped 0.1 per cent.

Energy stocks were mixed but mostly higher, as firmer oil prices typically support revenue expectations across the sector. Santos climbed 0.6 per cent, Ampol jumped 1.5 per cent and Viva Energy gained 2 per cent. Woodside was the exception, falling 0.6 per cent.

Several companies were making headlines on the day.

Amplitude Energy jumped 9 per cent after the junior gas explorer announced a gas discovery at its Juliet-1 exploration well off the coast of Victoria. Shares rose as much as 10.6 per cent during the session. New domestic supply discoveries tend to draw attention given the long-running debate over gas shortages on Australia's east coast, where regulators have warned of potential shortfalls later this decade.

Select Harvests rose 0.8 per cent after forecasting a near-record almond crop of up to 29,000 tonnes this year. That represents a 19 per cent increase on last year's crop, with the company benefiting from almond prices reaching a 10-year high in US dollar terms.

Red Hill Minerals gained 1.5 per cent after more than doubling its full-year net profit to $20 million.

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