The Australian sharemarket swung between gains and losses on Wednesday as a sell-off in mining and energy stocks was offset by a fresh record for index heavyweight Commonwealth Bank.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index finished the session up just 3.7 points, or 0.043 per cent, to 8559.2 after seesawing throughout the day as investors stayed on the sidelines, waiting to see whether the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran held.

Seven out of 11 sectors finished in the red as the market shrugged off a strong lead from Wall Street that pushed the Nasdaq to a fresh peak. Oil edged higher on Wednesday after another drop in US crude stockpiles.

Rate cut hopes

The Australian Bureau of Statistics also reported a dip in annual trimmed mean inflation in May to 2.4 per cent – its lowest level since November 2021 – that prompted CBA, Deutsche Bank, and RBC to forecast a rate cut next month.

“Easier RBA policy is a reason why we have been pivoting our long ideas away from the US to domestically exposed stocks,” said MST Marquee senior research analyst Hasan Tevfik of the Australian sharemarket.

“While lower interest expense should not be the only catalyst to buy a stock, it certainly helps.”

A rally in the banking sector pushed the bourse into the green at the end of the day after the inflation data boosted hopes of a July rate cut. Commonwealth Bank broke a fresh intraday record of $192 and closed 1.7 per cent higher at $191.4. ANZ rose 1.8 per cent to $29.10 after some selling pressure earlier in the week.

On the other side of the ledger, Fortescue led the sell-off in mining stocks, falling 2.3 per cent to $14.88. BHP was off 1.5 per cent to $36.11, and Rio Tinto 1 per cent to $104.30.

Gold miners tracked weakness in the precious metal as the safe haven bid eased, with Northern Star off 2.6 per cent to $19.28 and Newmont down 1 per cent to $89.01, having risen 10 per cent in the past week.

Investors also continued to take profits in the energy sector after the recent spike, with Woodside Energy down 0.7 per cent to $24, and Santos off 1.2 per cent to $7.57.

Stocks in focus

Elsewhere, Virgin Australia gained another 3.4 per cent to close at $3.34 after its Tuesday debut on the ASX, when it rose 11.4 per cent above the $2.90 issue price.

Forrest family-backed Greatland Gold, which closed on its maiden day on Tuesday 10.6 per cent above its $6.60 issue price, came off 1.4 per cent to $7.20.

DroneShield jumped 19.9 per cent to $2.14 after the defence technology company announced a $61.6 million European military deal for handheld detection and counter-drone systems.

Pinnacle dropped 3.7 per cent to $19.46 after founder Ian Macoun sold 3.9 million shares worth $77 million to invest in private credit funds managed by Metrics. Pinnacle owns a third of Metrics.

Betr shares dropped 5.2 per cent to 28¢ after takeover rival and Japanese entertainment giant Mixi managed to secure the votes needed to acquire PointsBet, despite an early indication from proxies that it did not have enough support. PointsBet rose 1.3 per cent $1.20.

Humm Group rallied 11.5 per cent to 54¢ after the buy now, pay later company confirmed a takeover offer from the family office of chairman Andrew Abercrombie.

US gaming giant Bally’s and Bruce Mathieson are one step closer to seizing control of Star Entertainment after the majority of shareholders approved two items on the agenda at the general meeting, which were needed to give them control of the casino operator. The shares rose 8 per cent to 14¢.

And Xero remains in a trading halt after agreeing to buy New York-based accounting platform Melio Payments for $US2.5 billion ($3.9 billion). They last traded at $194.21.

That’s a wrap on today’s news. Join us again soon for more live markets news.