Australian shares closed flat with a slight negative tilt on Tuesday's close, ahead of big technology earnings and the Federal Reserve's policy meeting.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index was little changed to close at 8,676.8.

The focus has shifted from recent tariff deals to the Fed's rate decision Wednesday and earnings from the four US technology giants, Bloomberg reported.

"Investors are now more focused on 'hard data' to validate the economic and policy outlook, rather than over-interpreting trade agreements," said Dilin Wu, a research strategist at Pepperstone Group.

On the domestic front, the ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian consumer confidence rose 0.4 points to 86.7 points in the week of July 21 to 27, ANZ reported.

Australia's private sector credit growth is expected to rise to 6.9% year on year in 2025 and 7.5% in 2026, led by strengthening housing credit as the Reserve Bank of Australia's rate cuts boosted market activity, according to a report from ANZ Research.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) indicator for May showed a softer-than-expected 2.1% annual gain, which led Westpac Banking (ASX:WBC, NZE:WBC) to revise down its June quarter inflation forecasts, according to a report by the financial services firm.

In company news, Viva Energy Group (ASX:VEA) reported total group sales volumes of 8.38 billion liters for the six months ended June 30, down 1.6% from last year's 8.51 billion liters. Shares of the company fell 6% at market close.

Boss Energy (ASX:BOE) said JPMorgan Chase, together with its affiliated entities, ceased to be a substantial company holder on July 24. Shares of the company fell 6% at market close.

Lastly, Woodside Energy Group (ASX:WDS) agreed to assume operatorship of the Bass Strait assets under an agreement with ExxonMobil Australia, consolidating operatorship of the assets into its portfolio. Shares of the company rose nearly 2% at market close.