The Australian sharemarket rose for the second consecutive month after a US court blocked American President Donald Trump’s tariffs, adding to hopes that global trade tensions will simmer down.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.3 per cent, or 24.9 points, to 8434.7 points on Friday, with seven of 11 sectors in the green, led by utilities. The benchmark rallied 3.8 per cent in May, recording its best month since January.

The All Ordinaries rose 0.3 per cent on Friday, notching its eighth consecutive weekly gain.

On Wall Street, stocks pared early gains after the Trump administration was granted a reprieve from a ruling threatening to throw out some of the US president’s aggressive trade policies. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told journalists that “nothing had really changed” on tariffs.

The S&P/ASX 200 swung between gains and losses on Friday before defensive consumer and utilities stocks helped lift the benchmark index. Bank stocks were broadly higher – Commonwealth Bank edged up 0.9 per cent to $175.95 and National Australia Bank gained 1.3 per cent to $38.

Technology stocks were heavily sold, with WiseTech off 1.5 per cent to $107.15 and Megaport down 3.1 per cent to $13.52.

Energy stocks were dragged lower by Woodside Energy and Santos, which both tracked a steep decline in oil prices. Woodside fell 2.1 per cent to $22.25 and Santos retreated 0.9 per cent to $6.59.

A surprise fall in retail sales, down 0.1 per cent in April, sent government bond yields plunging 10 basis points and helped spur optimism that the Reserve Bank will step up interest rate cuts.

Stocks in focus

Lithium stocks retreated after UBS downgraded the sector to “underweight” and also lowered its long-term price forecasts for spodumene. Pilbara Minerals dropped 5.7 per cent to $1.24 and IGO 5.4 per cent to $3.88.

HealthCo Healthcare & Wellness REIT leapt 7.8 per cent to 89¢ after it struck an agreement with troubled tenant Healthscope to partially defer rental payments and said it was in talks with alternative hospital operators. That drove Ramsay Health Care up 5.9 per cent to $38.30.

And Findi dropped 8.9 per cent to $4.60 as investors shrugged off the payment provider’s 54 per cent jump in underlying profit to $6 million in the 2025 financial year.