AUSTRALIAN shares touched a two-month high on Friday, on track for a seven-day rally, as gains in financials overshadowed the decline in gold-related stocks.
The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.5 per cent to 8,188.40, as of 0050 GMT, hitting its highest level since March 5. The benchmark is set for a third consecutive weekly gain.
Heavyweight banking stocks led gains on the benchmark, rising 0.8 per cent to hit their highest level since Feb 19. The sub-sector is on track for a third straight weekly gain.
The country’s ‘big four’ lenders rose between 1 per cent and 1.5 per cent.
On the other hand, gold stocks lost 1.1 per cent, on track for a weekly loss of more than 4 per cent, and a fifth straight day of declines, as bullion slumped to a two-week low pressured by signals of softening Sino-US trade tensions and a holiday in top consumer China.
Technology stocks were up 0.4 per cent, tracking gains in Wall Street peers, boosted by strong results from megacaps Microsoft and Meta easing concerns about artificial intelligence spending.
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Energy stocks ascended 0.7 per cent, as oil prices gained after US President Donald Trump threatened secondary sanctions on Iran.
Miners traded in a narrow range, last up 0.2 per cent.
The world’s largest-listed miner BHP Group dropped 0.9 per cent, while Rio Tinto and Fortescue gained 0.4 per cent and 1.4 per cent, respectively.
The sub-sector has fallen 0.6 per cent for the week, after three straight weeks of gains.
Locally, investors look ahead to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s two-day monetary policy meeting starting on May 19, where markets expect it to cut the cash rate to 3.60 per cent from the current level of 4.10 per cent.
As of May 1, 56 per cent of market participants surveyed expect the central bank to cut rates to 3.60 per cent, according to the RBA rate tracker.
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.3 per cent to 12,192.45. REUTERS
