ASX200 closes in on record highs after Wall St boom

The benchmark ASX200 has flown close to record highs on Thursday following a huge night of trading on Wall St.

The Australian sharemarket rallied to near record highs on Thursday on the back of surging euphoria from Wall St.

The benchmark ASX200 shot up to 7900 points at the opening bell, just 10.5 points shy of the index’s 7910.5 record, before edging down throughout the day to notch a 0.93 per cent gain to 7889.60 at the close.

The broader All Ordinaries index lifted 75.1 points, or 0.9 per cent, to close at 8133.4, while tech stocks climbed 1.11 per cent to 3144.1.

The surge was broadbased, with all 11 industry sectors ending in the green, led by the rate-sensitive real estate sector with a 1.6 per cent gain.

Several major companies cracked fresh records across the day, including financial heavyweight Commonwealth Bank, which climbed to a new high of $130.30 a share at the opening bell before settling for a 1.07 per cent gain to $129.92 at the close.

Property stock REA Group gained 1.38 per cent for a new high of $200.42.

Thursday’s glee was propelled by a huge session on Wall St overnight on Wednesday, with US stocks hitting fresh highs.

The Dow Jones lifted 1.09 per cent to 39,721.36 points, while the S and p 500 rose 1.02 per cent to 5633 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index climbed 1.18 per cent to 18,647.

US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell triggered the bull run with dovish remarks to US congress, telling politicians the world’s largest economy was “no longer overheated”.

Commonwealth Bank surged to a record high in a positive session on the Australian sharemarket on Thursday. Picture: Newswire / Gaye Gerard

Investors are now increasingly confident the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in September, which would serve as a new tailwind for equities.

The big miners booked gains, despite a 2.5 per cent slip in iron ore prices to $107 a tonne.

BHP rose 0.9 per cent to $43.56, Rio Tinto lifted 0.21 per cent to $119.62 and Fortescue climbed 1.9 per cent to $22.

Two other big banks followed CBA’s march upwards, with Westpac rising 0.4 per cent to $27.63 and NAB gaining 1.06 per cent to $36.20.

ANZ fell 1.21 per cent to $29.34.

Energy stocks climbed higher after oil prices snapped a three-day losing streak overnight.

Woodside Energy gained 1.16 per cent to $28.84 while Santos added 0.63 per cent to $7.94.

Uranium stocks boomed following a surprise mining extraction tax hike in Kazakhstan, the world’s largest uranium producing country.

Boss Energy surged 6.13 per cent to $3.98, while Deep Yellow soared 9.16 per cent to $1.49.

“Today’s gains are consistent with our view the ASX200 has spent the past three months consolidating and correcting its gains from the late October 6751 low to the early April 7910.5 high,” IG markets analyst Tony Sycamore said.

“A break above the all-time high at 7910.5 is needed to confirm the correction is complete and that the uptrend has resumed, targeting 8000 as the next stop.”

Uranium miners like Boss Energy boomed on the July 11, 2024 ASX trading day on the ASX. Picture: Boss Energy

In corporate news, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission announced proceedings in the Federal Court against JB Hi-Fi subsidiary The Good Guys, alleging the home goods business made false or misleading representations about its store credit scheme.

The stock shrugged off the legal threat to lift 1.18 per cent to $65.15.

The ACCC also flagged “preliminary competition concerns” over rail freight company Aurizon’s proposed acquisition of South Australian ports business Flinders Logistics.

Aurizon shed 0.56 per cent to finish at $3.58.

The top gainer on the ASX200 was Telix Pharmaceuticals, which jumped 10.48 per cent to a fresh high of $19.39.

The largest laggard was Netwealth Group, which slumped 4.15 per cent to $21.

The Aussie dollar gained 0.14 per cent to close at US67.5c.

Originally published as ASX200 closes in on record highs after Wall St boom