ASX 200 closes at its first record high for the year

Friday’s rally in mining, real estate and technology stocks pushed the ASX 200 to a new record high.

Australia’s market hit a new record high on Friday and also had its best month since July 2024.

The benchmark ASX 200 index gained 38.6 points or 0.45 per cent to finish at 8532.30 points.

The benchmark hit a new record high for the year, although fell throughout the afternoon trading – after hitting a new intraday record of 8556.9.

The broader All Ordinaries rose 43.80 points or 0.50 per cent to 8789.70.

The Aussie dollar continues to grind in the low 62’s, up 0.1 per cent to 62.14 US cents.

Australia’s market closed at a record high following a strong lead in from Wall Street with the S & P 500 soaring 0.6 per cent to 6073.2 and the tech heavy Nasdaq up 0.3 per cent to 19,692.7.

The ASX 200 reached a new record high on rate cut hopes. Picture Newswire/ Gaye Gerard.

BHP gained 1.19 per cent to close at $39.95, Rio Tinto is up 0.30 per cent to $117.40 and Fortescue Metals traded marginally lower down 0.052 per cent to $19.13 off the back of improving iron ore futures prices. Iron Ore futures grew 1.8 per cent to $US106.50 a tonne.

Moomoo market analyst Jessica Amir said the Australian market could continue to grow on the back of a bullish backdrop led by interest rate cuts.

“Investors and sophisticated traders are positioning themselves for growth particularly in banks, tech and real estate stocks.

“Bank, tech and real estate stocks do well when interest rates are cut,” she said.

Real estate stocks rallied on hopes for a February interest rate cut by the RBA when they meet on February 17-18.

Goodman Group jumped 1.42 per cent to $36.45 while Stocklands grew 0.78 per cent to $5.17.

The big four banks had a mixed day. Australia’s largest bank CBA fell 0.031 per cent to close at $160.56, while NAB was the strongest performing up 0.60 per cent to $40.14.

Nine of the 11 sectors traded higher during Friday’s market rally. Picture Newswire/ Gaye Gerard.

Westpac fell slightly by 0.15 per cent to close at $33.73, while ANZ slid 0.16 per cent to $30.62.

Ms Amir said an interest-rate cut could be a positive for the banking sector with more Aussies likely to invest in property and use credit in a lower interest environment.

“After interest rates are cut it will likely push up property prices which will push up bank valuations,” she said.

“Consumption spending will also rise, with credit cards already at records and so too are credit card balances with banks making money from that as well,” she said.

Private credit was up 0.6 per cent in December, beating general expectations of a 0.5 per cent month-on-month rise.

The gains were largely thanks to growth in the personal credit and lending categories. This brings the annual gains in total credit to 6.5 per cent.

In company news Magellan Financial continues its market sell-off, down 7.64 per cent to $10.51 on Friday after announcing a number of senior executive changes.

PointsBet tumbled 12.76 per cent to 86 cent to have its worst day in 21 months, after announcing full-year revenue guidance cuts to $260-270m from $280-290m. The cautionary guidance comes after shortfalls in Canada due to “unprecedented customer friendly NFL results negatively impacted net wins by circa $2.9M.”

Originally published as ASX 200 closes at its first record high for the year