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Australian shares soared on Friday, pushing the benchmark to a fresh all-time high as investors raised their bets on rate cuts.
At the closing bell, all 13 sectors bar utilities had finished in the green, with the S&P/ASX200 adding 1.5 per cent, or 111.2 points, to close at a record of 7699.4.
Earlier in trading, the index reached an intraday high of 7703.6.
The broader All Ordinaries also finished Friday’s session at a record close of 7391.6 —up 1.4 per cent.
The Australian dollar was 0.4 per cent higher against the greenback to US65.98c.
Reflecting on the record breaking week for local shares, AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said a combination of good economic data, strong earnings on Wall Street and expectations of rate cuts helped buoy equities.
“The combination of lower-than-expected local inflation, increased expectations for RBA rate cuts this year and the positive global lead saw the Australian share market rise to a new record high after languishing for two and half years,” Dr Oliver said.
Dr Oliver said gains led by property, energy, health and consumer staple stocks, had helped the local benchmark finish the week 1.9 per cent higher.
“Reflecting the positive signs on inflation and official interest rates, bond yields fell with 10-year yields in Australia falling back below four per cent,” he said.
Interest-rate sensitive real estate and tech stocks were the top performers, adding 3.3 per cent and 3.1 per cent, respectively.
Property sector heavyweights Goodman Group soared 6.2 per cent to $26.99, Pexa added 3.4 per cent to $11.73, and Lifestyle Communities also climbed 3.4 per cent to $18.04.
Tech majors Xero rose 1.7 per cent to $111.22, Wisetech jumped 2.4 per cent to $73.64, and Altium added 4.5 per cent to reach a record high of $51.85.
The share market was also supported by banks, which rebounded after sharp losses on Thursday, and miners, after sector heavyweights BHP added 0.4 per cent to $132.78 and BHP climbed 1.1 per cent toi $47.61.
The rally in iron ore miners came even as commodity futures on the Singapore Exchange shed 3.7 per cent to $US126.15 a tonne.
Elsewhere in commodities, uranium miners soared as spot prices climbed to $US106.25 per pound, their highest level in more than 15 years, as Kazakhstan’s Kazatomprom trimmed its production outlook.
Boss Energy vaulted 7.4 per cent to $6.08, Deep Yellow jumped 13.1 per cent to $1.69, and Paladin Energy soared 6.8 per cent to $1.38.
In a quiet day of company news, shares in Pinnacle Investment Management Group added 8.6 per cent to $10.84, after a strong session on Thursday.
The financial services company is at its highest level since August 2022 after it revealed affiliates’ funds under management surpassed $100bn in its most recent trading update.
On Wall Street, tech behemoths Apple, Amazon and Meta reported results, with all three beating consensus forecasts.
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