PERTH: The Australian stocks has hit a fresh seven-year high, extending the strongest rally this year as investors anticipate another Reserve Bank interest rate cut.
At the 4.15pm (AEDT) official market close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index had gained 24.7 points, or 0.42 per cent, to 5,975.5, while the broader All Ordinaries index added 23.8 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 5,936.3.
It’s the highest close for the benchmark since early 2008, when the market was slumping amid the global financial crisis, and puts the index within reach of the key 6,000-point level.
Friday’s close extended the sharemarket’s strongest day since Christmas on Thursday, when dovish statements from the US Federal Reserve lit fires under global stocks.
Across the five sessions this week, the ASX200 managed to surge 161 points, or 2.77 per cent.
The Australian dollar tumbled in overnight trade as traders bought back into the US currency. The local unit dived nearly two cents to US76.67c at 12pm, well below Thursday’s peak of US78.46c.
