Australian shares edged higher on Thursday after US President Donald Trump teased a trade deal announcement and traders held firm on bets the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates as soon as July.

After swinging between gains and losses earlier in the session, the S&P/ASX 200 Index closed up 13.4 points, or by 0.2 per cent, to 8191.7, with eight of the 11 sectors finishing higher led by utilities. The All Ordinaries added 0.3 per cent and bitcoin neared $US100,000, buoyed by the risk on sentiment.

BlackRock’s head of investment strategy for APAC Thomas Taw said the mood in markets was “bifurcated”, with some investors more risk-averse than others due to the uncertain outlook from Trump’s trade agenda.

“With the recent rally, half of my clients are looking to buy on bounces. But half of them went to sell down and rotate into something more defensive,” he said.

Deal on the cards

US futures reversed an earlier fall after Trump said he planned to announce a trade deal on Thursday. Downing Street confirmed after the close of trading that a UK agreement had been struck with Washington, which triggered a rally in the pound.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is also due to kick off trade negotiations with China later today. Though Trump said he would not lower the 145 per cent tariff slapped on Chinese imports to commence negotiations, which sent iron ore tumbling 1.7 per cent to $US96.70 a tonne in Singapore.

Traders were also focused on US rates after Fed chairman Jerome Powell kept the policy on hold, warning “uncertainty about the economic outlook” and inflation had “increased further”. Even so, market pricing suggests more rate cuts are on the way.

On the ASX, typically defensive utilities stocks advanced, with power company AGL Energy advancing 2 per cent to $10.99 and APA Group up 1.9 per cent to $8.51.

Technology stocks tracked a more than 1 per cent advance in Nasdaq futures. Stock transfer services provider Computershare jumped 3.1 per cent to $39.19 and WiseTech 3.8 per cent to $95.19.

This week’s losses from the major banks, meanwhile, gathered momentum after ANZ reported interim profit that was flat year-on-year and its net interest margin missed expectations. The shares fell 1.9 per cent to $29.40, while Westpac, which reported earlier in the week, dropped 4.1 per cent to $30.50.

Stocks on the move

In other corporate news, Transurban rose 1.7 per cent to $14.55 after announcing a plan to cull about 300 staff following an internal review.

Pro Medicus rose 3.4 per cent to $245.13 after inking a $20 million five-year contract, through its US subsidiary Visage Imaging, with Iowa Health Care.

Orica rallied 7.4 per cent to $18.01 after it reported a 40 per cent jump in net profit to $250.8 million excluding significant items and raised its dividend.

Light & Wonder dropped 8.4 per cent to $133.15 after telling investors it anticipates near-term cost pressures stemming from White House trade policy, despite reaffirming its full-year earnings guidance.

And Guzman y Gomez rose 3.7 per cent to $32.99 after the Mexican fast food chain operator said it would exceed full-year net profit guidance. Chief executive Steven Marks told investors at the Macquarie conference the business was expanding in the US, stepping up investment and staff numbers.