The Australian sharemarket edged higher in a choppy session of trading ahead of Tuesday’s widely anticipated decision on interest rates from the Reserve Bank of Australia.

The benchmark ASX200 recovered from losses in the morning to lift 12.9 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 8894.8 points at the closing bell, while the broader All Ordinaries index climbed 4.5 points to 9182.5.

Five of 11 industry sectors ended in the green, led by IT stocks with a sharp 1.65 per cent advance and financials, which rallied 1.25 per cent.

Tech darling Xero jumped 2.28 per cent to $148.30 a share, while Dicker Data rose 1.27 per cent to $10.38 and Wisetech Global added 0.62 per cent to $69.55.

The big banks all lifted, led by a 2.79 per cent surge from Westpac to $39.82.

The $136bn giant reported $6.9bn in ne

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