The Australian sharemarket closed above the key 8600-point mark for the first time on record as investors bought retail stocks ahead of an expected interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank next week.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 7.2 points, 0.1 per cent, to 8603 on Friday, with eight out of the 11 sectors in the green. The benchmark index posted a weekly gain of 1 per cent.

Local shares followed a strong lead from Wall Street where stronger-than-expected jobs data eased concerns about a slowdown in the world’s largest economy. The S&P 500 rose 0.8 per cent, while the Nasdaq 100 advanced 1 per cent, leaving both benchmarks at the highest closing level on record.

ASX tech stocks tracked gains on Wall Street. Appen jumped 3.5 per cent to $1.17, Life360 1.9 per cent to $33.11, and WiseTech Global 1.1 per cent to $112.10.

Retail stocks also bounced as investors positioned for the RBA to cut rates next week. Wesfarmers edged 0.8 per cent to $84.37, while Aristocrat and Premier Investments both advanced 1.4 per cent.

Commonwealth Bank dropped 0.9 per cent to $178, despite ANZ, Westpac and National Australia Bank all posting modest gains. CBA has fallen in six of the last seven sessions, and is down 7.2 per cent from its intraday record of $192. This comes ahead of next week’s Reserve Bank meeting, where bond traders have all but locked in a rate cut.

“Rate cuts are not necessarily beneficial for bank earnings,” said Merlon Capital Partners principal Neil Margolis. “They can be supportive of credit growth, but bank margins are typically under pressure if rates are being cut and obviously the valuations of Australian banks are reasonably high too, so it’s not surprising CBA is taking a breather.”

The materials sector fell, with BHP dropping 1.4 per cent to $38.73, and Rio Tinto shedding 1.3 per cent to $108.80. Fortescue pushed 0.4 per cent higher to $16.33.

Stocks in focus

In corporate news, Silk Logistics rocketed 23.3 per cent to $2.12 on news the ACCC will not oppose DP World Australia’s $174 million takeover of the national container services provider.

ARB Corporation rose 3.6 per cent to $34.37 after Citi upgraded the car accessories maker to “buy” from “neutral”, with a price target of $38.70.

GemLife fell 5.8 per cent to $4.08 – below its initial public offer price of $4.16 – after the shares rose 4.1 per cent on debut on Thursday.

And G8 Education dropped 3.5 per cent to 96¢, having fallen every day since it was reported on Tuesday that a former employee had been charged with child-related offences.

Thanks for following our live blog – that’s a wrap for today. We’ll be back next week with more live coverage.