July 17, 2024 at 02:32 am EDT
* Financials at record high
* Gold stocks touch near 4-year high
* NZ inflation slows to 3-yr-low
(Reuters) - Australian shares closed at a record high on Wednesday bolstered by a rally in heavyweight banks, while the New Zealand market finished at a two-year peak after data showed the country's central bank is reining in inflation.
The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.7% to an all-time closing high of 8,057.90. The benchmark crossed the 8,000 mark for the first time earlier this week, gaining in four of the past five sessions.
"Sentiment and momentum have driven stocks higher... Although we remain positive on equities, we keep our year-end target unchanged at 8,000, as we await upcoming company results through August," UBS analysts said in a note.
Meanwhile, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index gained 0.9% to 12,292.03, their highest closing level since Feb. 11, 2022.
New Zealand's inflation slowed in the second quarter to a three-year low, coming below economists' expectations, and closer to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's target band.
"This gives the RBNZ room to start dialling back restriction earlier than thought. We now see the first RBNZ 25 basis point cut coming in November (down from February next year)," said Kelly Eckhold, chief economist New Zealand at Westpac NZ.
In Australia, banks extended a seven-day rally, rising 1% to scale a successive record high on Wednesday.
The 'Big Four' banks climbed between 0.7% and 1.1%.
Real Estate companies rose 1.5% to their highest level since March 28.
Gold stocks climbed 1.8%, after bullion prices hit a record high. The sub-index rose as much as 4% to its highest level since November 2020 earlier.
Miners fell 0.3%, tracking losses in iron ore prices.
BHP slipped 0.8%, even as the top global miner posted a record annual iron ore output.
Focus is now on the June unemployment report on Thursday for clues on the Reserve Bank of Australia's monetary policy trajectory.
(Reporting by Aaditya Govind Rao in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)

Sumber : Reuters