The Australian sharemarket experienced a risk-on day, with the benchmark briefly climbing above 7900 points in a broad rally led by the big four banks. The S&P/ASX 200 jumped 72.8 points, or 0.9 percent, to 7889.6, approaching its record intraday high, fueled by gains in the technology, real estate, and mining sectors. ANZ was an outlier among the major banks, falling 1.2 percent due to a reported overstatement of government bond trades. The next key data point is the US inflation report, which could influence expectations for a potential rate cut by the US Federal Reserve.
Futures
The Dow Jones futures are pointing to a fall of 12 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a fall of 3.75 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a fall of 29.75 points.
The SPI futures are up 71 points.
Best and worst performers
All sectors are in the black. The best-performing sector was REITs, up 1.6 per cent. The sector with the fewest gains was Utilities, up 0.25 per cent.
The best-performing large cap was Telix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:TLX), closing 10.48 per cent higher at $19.39. It was followed by shares in Newmont Corporation (ASX:NEM) and Mercury NZ (ASX:MCY).
The worst-performing large cap was Netwealth Group (ASX:NWL), closing 4.15 per cent lower at $21.00. It was followed by shares in Meridian Energy (ASX:MEZ) and Yancoal Australia (ASX:YAL).
Asian markets
Japan's Nikkei has gained 0.94 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng has gained 1.95 per cent.
China's Shanghai Composite has gained 1.18 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$2,385.60 an ounce.
Iron ore is 3.7 per cent lower at US$105.50 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 0.85 per cent rise.
Light crude is trading $0.60 higher at US$82.70 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 67.61 US cents.
