Australian shares close at record high, boosted by financials

Reuters

Australian shares close at record high, boosted by financials

Oct 17, 2024 at 5:36 am GMT

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>Australian shares close at record high, boosted by financials</title></head><body>

AXJO closes at record 8355.9 points

Financials gain 1.7%, miners retreat 0.5%

Gold stocks jump 2.2%

Updates to close

By Ayushman Ojha

Oct 17 (Reuters) -Australian shares notched a record closing high on Thursday, tracking a similar trend on Wall Street, as financials continued their bullish run, with "Big Four" banks gaining between 1.3% and 2.6%.

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO climbed 0.9% to an all-time closing high of 8355.9 points. The benchmark had closed down 0.4% on Wednesday.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record high for the third time in four sessions and Wall Street's two other benchmark indexes also ended higher, as major banks were buoyed by strong earnings. .N

In Australia, the financials .AXFJ rose 1.7%, rising for the ninth time in the last ten sessions.

"Australian investors hold the banks forever and they love the dividends and we're just heading into a bank reporting season," said Henry Jennings, senior analyst and portfolio manager at Marcus Today.

"The economy is relatively pretty strong (so) there is no real reason to sell the banks at the moment."

Meanwhile, the local jobs data for September indicated that the labour market remains tight, resulting in reduced bets of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia this year.

Markets pared the chances of a first interest rate cut in December to 30% from 46% before the data.

In Sydney, heavyweight miners .AXMM fell 0.5% as prices of iron ore futures dropped to their lowest in more than two weeks. Mining behemoths Fortescue FMG.AX and Rio Tinto RIO.AX fell 2.7% and 1.8%, respectively.

The world's largest listed miner <BHP BHP.AX> was down 1.3%, despite reporting a beat in its first-quarter iron ore output.

Energy stocks .AXEJ climbed 0.5% after oil prices rose in early Asian trade and gold stocks .AXGD jumped 2.2% as bullion prices hovered near record highs.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 1% to finish the session at 12768.54.

Reporting by Ayushman Ojha; Editing by Sumana Nandy

For more information on DIARIES & DATA: U.S. earnings diary RESF/US Wall Street Week Ahead .N/O Global Economy Week Ahead DATA/ ................................................................ For latest top breaking news across all markets NEWS1

</body></html>