Australia's share market rose for an eleventh straight session on Thursday to reach a fresh seven-year closing high as three of the big four local banks scaled record peaks. The S&P/ASX 200 index ended up 0.6 percent at 5,811.0, having earlier touched 5,819.1 - a high not seen since May 2008. The index has risen 9.5 percent in 11 sessions, a feat not seen in over five years.
A late rally in bank stocks helped offset losses in the energy sector, which fell on a renewed slide in oil prices. Commonwealth Bank reached A$93.29, while Westpac Bank hit A$36.54. ANZ retested its all-time high of $35.07 first reached nearly a year ago.
National Australia Bank, which reported a 6 percent gain in first-quarter cash profit, climbed to a 15-month high of A$37.03. However, it was still some way off its record peak of $44.84 set back in 2007. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index rose 0.2 percent, or 12.3 points, to finish at 5,797.6. The market had been bolstered by an interest rate cut this week and growing hopes that a rout in commodity prices may have ended. However, oil prices took a fresh spill overnight as record high US inventories cut short a four-day rally.
Woodside Petroleum, Santos, Oil Search, Beach Energy all fell between 2 and 4 percent, taking the S&P/ASX 200 Energy index down 2.4 percent. Among the big local banks, Westpac hit a record high of A$36.46, while CommBank hovered just under an all-time high of A$91.94 set a day ago.
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