Australian shares hit record high as Fed rate cut nears
Sept 17 (Reuters) -Australian shares hit a record high on Tuesday, as expectations grew that the U.S. Federal Reserve could deliver a outsized rate cut this week.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO rose as much 0.3% to 8,148.8, as of 0110 GMT, surpassing the previous all-time high of 8,148.7 scaled on Aug. 1.
The Fed had been widely expected to lower interest rates by at least 25 basis points at the end of its two-day meeting on Wednesday. But some reports last week sparked speculation that it could deliver a 50 bp cut.
Currently, 62% of market participants expect a 50 bp rate cut, according to CME's FedWatch tool.
In Australia, traders waited for Friday's August jobs report to see how the labour market has dealt with high interest rates.
The Australian central bank has kept interest rates steady at a 12-year high of 4.35% since November 2023.
In Sydney, rate-sensitive financials .AXFJ rose 0.3%, with top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX up 0.4%.
Gold stocks .AXGD rose for a sixth straight session, as prospects of a big cut in U.S. interest rates kept bullion prices buoyant near a record high.GOL/
Miners .AXMM inched up 0.1%, with sector behemoth BHP Group BHP.AX up 0.3%, while Rio Tinto RIO.AX gained 0.7%.
Technology stocks .AXIJ rose as much as 1% to hit an all-time high. Sector major Xero XRO.AX climbed as much as 0.6% to hit its highest level since Jan. 4, 2022, after announcing a $70 million takeover of Johannesburg-based cloud platform Syft Analytics.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.5% to 12,641.4.
Reporting by Adwitiya Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu
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