Australia shares breach 8,000 points as miners, banks rally
Benchmark ends at second straight all-time high
AXFJ hits record high; all big four banks gain
BHP, Rio Tinto production reports in focus
Updates to close
By Aaditya GovindRao
July 15 (Reuters) -Australian shares rose above 8,000 points for the first time on Monday, lifted by miners and banks as well as the strong finish on Wall Street last week.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO climbed 0.7% to a second successive all-time closing high of 8,017.60 points. The benchmark hit its lifetime high of 8,037.3 earlier in the day.
"Reaching the 8,000 level has been a long time coming for the ASX 200" but staying there in the short term will depend on several factors including how the U.S. earnings season and key domestic jobs data pan out, said Tim Waterer, KCM Trade's chief market analyst.
Wall Street closed higher on Friday after weak inflation data buoyed investor hopes of U.S. rate cuts in September. .N
An attack on former U.S. President Donald Trump has stoked fears of instability in the market, although the movement in equities seems muted. The S&P futures ESc1 were 0.2% higher as of 0526 GMT.
In Australia, the heavyweight mining index .AXMM led gains, rising 0.5% after iron ore prices rose to a one-week high on growing bets that top consumer China will unveil more stimulus this week. IRONORE/
BHP BHP.AX and Rio Tinto RIO.AX gained 0.7% and 0.1%, respectively, ahead of their quarterly production results later in the week.
BHP said on Friday it had reached a deal with Brazilian peer Vale VALE3.SA to split equally the cost of any damages related to proceedings in Britain over a 2015 dam collapse in Brazil.
Financials .AXFJ rose 0.7%. They rose as much as 1% to a record high earlier in the session.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.1% to close at 12,123.14 points. Inflation data later in the week will give investors cues on the central bank's next move.
Reporting by Aaditya Govind Rao in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza
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