The Australian sharemarket, which jumped in early trading after a big day on Wall Street, extended its gains at midday after the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed the country’s unemployment rate rose more than expected, buoying hopes for eventual interest-rate cuts.
Ten out of the 11 major sectors on the ASX were higher, with energy the only one in red after the International Energy Agency overnight forecast slower demand globally for oil. Cloud-based accounting software provider Xero shares jumped 5.1 per cent, Seven Group Holdings rose 3.4 per cent and WiseTech Global lifted 3.4 per cent.
The moves strengthened market expectations that the Federal Reserve may indeed cut its main interest rate this year.Big technology companies and other high-growth stocks rode the wave, with shares in artificial intelligence chipmaker Nvidia surging 3.6 per cent. Meta, owner of Facebook, rose 2 per cent, while Google owner Alphabet shared gained 1.1 per cent.Real-estate stocks in the S&P 500 climbed 1.7 per cent, while stocks of electricity companies and other utilities rose 1.4 per cent.
“There was a lot relying on today’s CPI to prove that disinflation was simply delayed these last three months and not derailed,” according to Alexandra Wilson-Elizondo, co-chief investment officer of multi-asset solutions at Goldman Sachs Asset Management.