Australian shares climbed to a record high on Wednesday, buoyed by financials and commodity stocks ahead of a policy meeting where the US Federal Reserve is expected to cut its interest rates for the first time in more than four years.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.1% at 8,151.4 points, as of 1245 GMT, surpassing the previous all-time high of 8150.5 points climbed on Tuesday.
The US retail sales rose unexpectedly in August, theoretically weakening the case for a more aggressive cut by the Fed at the conclusion of its two-day meeting later in the day.
Amid recent volatility in markets’ expectations of the size in rate reduction, investors are pricing in a 66% chance the US central bank will cut borrowing costs by 50 basis points, according to the CME’s FedWatch Tool.
Domestic investors await the jobs data for August, due on Thursday, which could influence the Reserve Bank of Australia’s monetary policy stance. Miners rose as much as 0.8% with heavyweights BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue up between 0.5% and 1.3%.
Financials inched 0.4% higher with the “Big Four” banks advancing between 0.3% and 0.9%.
Energy and gold stocks were marginally up by 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively.
Brent crude futures edged higher to $73.75 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lost 0.04% to $71.16 per barrel.
Australian shares end near record high ahead of Fed policy meeting
Bullion rose 0.09% to $2,572.20. Bucking the upbeat mood, technology and healthcare stocks shed as much as 0.8% each.
The US Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 15.90 points, or 0.04%, at 41,606.18 points on Tuesday.
The S&P 500 gained 1.49 points, or 0.03%, while Nasdaq gained 35.93 points, or 0.20%.
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was down 0.2% at 12,643.56 points.
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