The Australian sharemarket gained for a second week as a retreat in US Treasury yields and growing expectations for aggressive interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of Australia boosted sentiment.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.2 per cent, or 12.2 points, to 8360.9 on Friday. Over the week, the bourse edged up 0.2 per cent. Six of 11 sectors were in the green on Friday, with technology stocks leading the gains.

On Wall Street, a sizeable reversal in US 10-year Treasury yields helped soothe concerns about the stability of US government debt following a lacklustre $US16 billion ($24.8 billion) sale of 20-year bonds earlier this week.

For local investors, the focus also returned to the interest rate outlook ahead of next week’s April consumer price index, which is tipped to show a decline in annual inflation to 2.3 per cent from 2.4 per cent.

Earlier this week, the RBA struck a surprisingly dovish tone, prompting some economists to bring forward expectations for interest rate cuts.

The sharemarket’s rate-sensitive technology, financial and real estate sectors all rose. Property giant Goodman Group jumped 2.2 per cent to $32.68. Among the banks, Commonwealth Bank rose 0.6 per cent to $173.84, while in technology, WiseTech added 1.3 per cent to $100.05 and NextDC 1.1 per cent to $13.11.

Miners helped moderate the advance as iron ore prices dropped below $US99 a tonne. Fortescue fell 2.4 per cent to $15.51 after announcing its energy chief, Mark Hutchinson, was stepping down.

Stocks in focus

Uranium stocks surged following a report US President Donald Trump will sign an executive order aimed to jumpstart the nuclear energy industry. Paladin Energy leapt 6.7 per cent to $5.77, Boss Energy 12.11 per cent to $3.98 and Deep Yellow 8.3 per cent to $1.25.

In corporate news, Nufarm retreated 6.1 per cent to $2.47 after Morgan Stanley analysts said the company’s recent trading update “challenged their confidence” in the stock.

Origin Energy fell 1.1 per cent to $11.05 after forecasting its second-half earnings from Australia Pacific LNG, in which it owns a minority stake, would be $55 million less than expected.