Consumer discretionary stocks and real estate investment trusts boosted the Australian share market on Wednesday after Wall Street hit record highs. The market shrugged off a key US inflation report showing Americans paid more than expected for their purchases last month.
Three out of the four big banks were among the biggest large-cap advancers. Westpac , ANZ and NAB were all stronger, lifting the financial sector, which gained 0.9 per cent.Miners were among the weakest companies on the index as gold miners Newmont , Evolution and Northern Star slid on the back of a 0.8 per cent drop in gold prices. The world’s largest iron ore miner, BHP , also weighed on the local market, along with competitor Fortescue, which shed 1 per cent amid softer iron ore prices.
The US inflation report, which provides a clue on how soon the Federal Reserve might begin cutting rates, was hotter than expected, suggesting inflation was sticking around and keeping the door closed on hopes the Feds could deliver long-sought cuts to interest rates at its meeting next week.But the inflation figures were still relatively close to expectations, and traders held on to hopes that the longer-term trend downward means the Fed will begin the hoped-for cuts in June.
On the US sharemarket, big technology stocks did much of the heavy lifting. Oracle jumped 11.7 per cent after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
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