Australian shares extend gains after inflation undershoots forecasts
- The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 1.3% to 9,060 points
Australian shares extended gains on Wednesday after data showed consumer price inflation eased in the June quarter, prompting investors to scale back expectations for interest rate hikes.
The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 1.3% to 9,060 points by 0200 GMT, its highest since March 4 and reclaiming the 9,000 level for the first time since mid-April.
Australian consumer price inflation slowed slightly in the June quarter as fuel costs eased from peaks, while core inflation undershot forecasts, easing pressure for a follow-up rate increase after three hikes earlier this year.
Investors trimmed bets for a rate hike in August to around 3% from about 20% while lowering the odds of a November increase to 34% from 55%.
Rio Tinto jumped as much as 5.8% after the miner reported its highest half-year earnings in four years and declared its biggest interim dividend since 2022.
The broader mining sub-index was up 1%, with BHP Group climbing 1.5% and Fortescue adding 2.4%.
Biotechnology firm CSL Group jumped as much as 7.7% in its biggest intraday gain since mid-February 2022, after saying it would begin trials of a new manufacturing process aimed at boosting immunoglobulin production.
That helped lift healthcare stocks 4% to their highest level since July 10.
Financials advanced 0.9% and hit their highest since April 16, with the “Big Four” banks up between 0.7% and 1.4%. Energy stocks gained 0.6%.
Woodside Energy advanced 0.7% after the firm reported a 28% climb in second-quarter revenue and narrowed its full-year production outlook.
Technology stocks tracked gains in overseas peers and were up 1.5%.
WiseTech Global advanced more than 1.4%, while New Zealand-based Xero added over 4.6%. New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.8% to 13,971.32.
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