Australian shares fell Tuesday ahead of the highly contested US presidential elections, while the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) left the official cash rate unchanged.

The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.4% or 32.8 points to close at 8,131.80.

Precarious calm blanketed financial markets ahead of the results of the US presidential elections, Reuters reported.

"Ultimately the U.S. election comes down to this - whether the U.S. electorate wants to vote for economic policy continuity, institutional stability and liberal democracy (Harris) or radical trade policy, a further retreat for globalization and strongman democracy (Trump)," said JP Morgan analysts in a note.

"In short, a vote for stability or change," the analysts added.

At home, the RBA left the cash rate unchanged at a 12-year high of 4.35% as policymakers awaited more data supporting inflation's sustainable return to the target given that underlying inflation "remains too high" with a "highly uncertain" outlook.

Meanwhile, S&P Global and Judo Bank said that business activity in Australia's private sector accelerated in October as the strength of the services sector offset the weakness of manufacturing companies.

The Composite Output Index, which considers both service and manufacturing firms, rose to 50.2 in October from 49.6 in September.

Further, consumer confidence in Australia strengthened on the back of households' more positive sentiment over their future financial conditions. The ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence index rose by 0.1 to 86.5 in the week of Oct. 28 to Nov. 3.

In corporate news, the Federal Court of Australia declared Harvey Norman Holdings' (ASX:HVN) advertising of an interest-free payment method in 2020 and 2021 as "misleading." A hearing to determine the penalty is scheduled for May 19, 2025.

St Barbara's (ASX:SBM) shares declined 26% at market close as the miner is set to raise AU$100 million via the placement of about 263 million shares priced at AU$0.38 apiece.

Finally, Domino's Pizza Enterprise's (ASX:DMP) Chief Executive Don Meij will retire after 40 years with the company, with Mark van Dyck stepping into the position by Nov. 6.