Two on the trot, ASX200 closes at record high

The ASX200 has notched a consecutive record closing high on Thursday.

US tech gains driven by hopes of an interest rate cut Stateside pushed Australian tech shares to big gains on Thursday.

The S&P/ASX 200 index recorded a second consecutive record high. The benchmark closed up 22 points to 8,114.7, a 0.28 per cent gain.

Overall the ASX200 made a huge 4.18 per cent gain for July.

The benchmark kept it rolling into August with the second consecutive record high, sparked in part by the key June quarter Aussie inflation data released on Wednesday.

The information technology sector and real estate were the big movers.

Notably Life360 gained 4.7 per cent to $17.35. Bravura, up 130 per cent on the year, rose 2.1 per cent to $1.17.

On the realty front, Goodman Group picked up 3.82 per cent to finish at $36.44, the biggest gainer of the ASX50.

ALS, Aristocrat, CBA, Pro Medicus, REA Group, Steadfast and Wesfarmers hit record highs in early trading.

Meta shares spiked 6.7 per cent in after-hours trading. Picture: Michael Nagle / Bloomberg via Getty Images

But CBA’s fortunes flipped, dragging CommBank shares to $136.74 and 0.55 per cent loss on the day.

NAB shed a whole percentage point on Thursday’s trading, slipping to $38.19.

Qantas Airways handed back some of its 4.5 per cent gain of the previous session, after competitor Rex Airlines’ voluntary administration announcement. Qantas finished 1.86 per cent down, and has slipped a half a percentage point in the past 12 months.

Overnight in New York, the S&P500 rose 1.6 per cent for its best day in six months. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite roared to a 2.6 per cent gain.

The US gains were driven by signals the Federal Reserve could cut rates in September, for the first time since the pandemic.

After the closing bell on Wall Street, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp owner Meta released results. The firm’s AI infrastructure spend spiked 33 per cent this quarter. Quarterly revenue was up 22 per cent to US$39.1bn, about $1bn above estimates.

Information technology sector and real estate were the big movers on Thursday. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

Meta’s share price surged 6.70 per cent in after-hours trading.

On Aussie markets nine of the 11 sectors were up; only industrials and financials lost ground.

Drone Shield, in the industrials sector, was smacked out of the sky with a 14.7 per cent loss to $1.18.

The mid-cap tech business company on Thursday returned from a trading halt after a $120m raise. DroneShield provides AI platforms to protect against drones and autonomous vehicles, and has government customers.

Star Entertainment fell 0.86 per cent ($0.57) after it denied knowledge of revelations about its suitability to hold gaming licences, reported by The Australian.

Star Entertainment should not be considered suitable to hold a casino licence and the appointment of an external manager needs to be extended indefinitely until the under-pressure operator shows it can change its ways, a confidential submission to an inquiry reveals.

Oil prices rose following the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, and reports the Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered a retaliatory strike on Israel.

West Texas Intermediate bubbled up 4 per cent to reach US$78 a barrel.

AUD/USD finished higher overnight at .6541, up 0.07 per cent, after hitting an intraday low of .6479 after the cooler June quarter inflation numbers.

Originally published as Two on the trot, ASX200 closes at record high