SYDNEY: A rally in Australia’s heavyweight mining sector pushed the benchmark index past the 8,500 mark at close for the first time on Friday, with higher chances of an interest rate cut next month triggering flows into stocks across the board.
The S&P/ASX 200 benchmark index ended the day 0.5% higher at 8,532.30 points. It scaled a record high of 8,566.90 points earlier in the day.
The index gained more than 4% in January, its best month since December 2023.
Miners rebounded from a sell-off over the past few sessions as fears around the severity of tariffs to be imposed on China, Australia’s biggest trading partner and customer of commodities, abated.
“The market is shifting to a more optimistic outlook for material recovery in demand for key commodities like iron ore from China,” said Grady Wulff, a market analyst at Bell Direct.
“The market is very reactive to news of tariffs sentiment has moderated and any tariffs will be handled as they arise, not pre-emptively.”
The sub-index, which rose 1.1% on the day, gained more than 3% in January to break a three-month losing streak.
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