Australian shares touched an all-time high on Monday, boosted by healthcare and commodity stocks, while New Zealand’s benchmark index hit a near three-year high on hopes of an interest-rate cut later this week.
The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.6% to 8,447.2, as of 2351 GMT. It jumped as much as 0.8% earlier in the day to hit a record high of 8,458.9.
Miners led gains on the benchmark, rising 0.5%, with heavyweights BHP and Rio Tinto up 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively.
Healthcare sector jumped 1.3%, with the country’s priciest stock CSL gaining 1.7%.
On Friday, the US Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 426.16 points, or 0.97%, to 44,296.51. The S&P 500 gained 20.63 points, or 0.35%, while Nasdaq gained 31.23 points, or 0.16%.
Energy stocks rose 0.4%, boosted by strong oil prices.
Brent crude futures rose 0.21% to $75.33 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 0.21% to $71.39 per barrel.
Australian shares fall as miners offset real estate and healthcare gains
Among individual stocks, SG Fleet surged 24%, after the mobility solutions provider received an A$1.19 billion ($778.26 million) takeover offer from private equity Pacific Equity Partners. Meanwhile, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.4% to 5,474.5.
It was trading at its highest levels since January 2022.
The country’s retail sales volumes fell a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in the third quarter, data from Statistics New Zealand showed.
The country’s central bank is expected to cut rates by 50 basis points on Wednesday, according to a Reuters Poll. Air New Zealand rose 0.9%, after the flag carrier forecast higher first-half earnings.
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