PERTH: Australian stocks has closed at a fresh seven-year high as a rate cut in China over the weekend boosted sentiment ahead of Tuesday’s Reserve Bank board meeting.
At the 4.15pm (AEDT) official market close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 30.1 points, or 0.51 per cent, at 5,958.9, while the broader All Ordinaries index rose 27.8 points, or 0.47 per cent, to 5,926.3.
Banks and miners led the charge, taking the benchmark index to an intra-day high of 5983.6 points — a level last seen in January 2008 when the market was on the way down as a result of the global financial crisis.
On Sunday, China’s central bank announced it was cutting the benchmark deposit and loan interest rates by 25 basis points, as authorities seek to prop up flagging growth in the world’s second-largest economy. The move encouraged investors to pour into mining stocks, expecting demand for construction materials to increase.
CMC Markets sales trader, Tony Kwok, said the market had broken out of its recent plateau to race closer to the 6,000 level today.
“Property and Material Sectors have led the markets higher on the back of strong property prices and more stable oil and iron ore prices,” Mr Kwok said.
