SYDNEY: Australian shares advanced on Friday, driven by gains in mining and tech stocks after US chip giant Nvidia’s strong earnings underscored the AI spending boom and boosted market sentiment, shrugging off rate hike fears.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.6 percent to 9,092.30 points. It edged 0.4 percent higher during the week.
Technology stocks advanced 2.3 percent, clocking their best session since August 20 as Nvidia’s robust revenue growth outlook fueled gains in Nasdaq.
Sector majors WiseTech Global, Technology One and Xero gained between 2.7 percent and 4.8 percent, and were among the top gainers on the benchmark.
The sector has been beaten down for the better part of a year, and a strong performance from US tech behemoths like Nvidia and Salesforce is providing some relief to investor concerns that software is at terminal risk from AI impacts, said Luke Winchester, portfolio manager at Merewether Capital.
Investors looked past heightened expectations of a rate hike at the Reserve Bank of Australia’s September meeting, after data showed hotter monthly inflation.
Swaps now imply more than a 50 percent chance of a hawkish move by the central bank in September, from 16 percent before the release of data.
Heavyweight miners added 1.1 percent, supported by higher commodity prices. The world’s largest listed miner, BHP, rose 1.4 percent, while South32 inched 0.8 percent higher.
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