Aussie shares track US rebound towards record high
By lunchtime, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 had surged 87.2 points, or 1.01 per cent, to 8,750.9, as the broader All Ordinaries jumped 89.7 points, or 1.02 per cent, to 9,012.7.
The bullish start to the day followed Wall Street's best session since May, as last week's gloomy jobs figures helped narrow interest rate market bets on incoming Federal Reserve rate cuts.
"Investors reversed their brief market retreat into a bull run overnight, applauding strong company data and cheering weaker economic data as a herald of interest rate cuts to come," Moomoo market strategist Michael McCarthy said.
"Good news is good news, and bad news is good news as US indices moved back towards all-time highs."
The local bourse is also narrowing in on its own record, pushing to within 12 points, or 0.13 per cent of its 8,776.4 intraday peak set in July.
All 11 sectors were trading higher by midday, led by IT stocks, materials, consumer discretionary and utilities stocks.
Financials have rebounded by one per cent, completely wiping Monday's 0.6 per cent loss.
All big four banks were trading higher, led by NAB (+1.2 per cent) and ANZ (+1.1 per cent), while CBA was the again the least volatile with a 0.7 per cent lift to $176.20.
The materials sector continues to show strength, up 1.3 per cent on Tuesday with strong leads from large caps BHP (0.9 per cent) and Rio Tinto (+1.2 per cent) leading the way as iron ore prices held above $US100 per tonne for the first time since mid-May.
Gold prices edged to within two per cent of record prices to $US3435 ($A5312), helping support local miners like Northern Star, which rose 1.8 per cent to $16.45.
Local energy stocks gained 0.9 per cent as oil prices hit a weekly low overnight, prompting a modest bounce and helping Woodside rise 1.2 per cent to $26.51.
Mobile and internet provider TPG will hand back up to $3 billion of the $5.3 billion sale of its fibre and fixed network business to shareholders, after finalising the sale to Vocus. TPG shares have slipped 2.3 per cent following the capital reduction and reinvestment plan announcement.
Counter-drone solution provider Droneshield was the best performer of the top-200, surging more than nine per cent on Tuesday and is up more than 450 per cent in 2025 amid rising global defence spending.
Telix Pharmaceuticals was at the other end of the leaderboard, sinking more than 14 per cent after it announced significantly higher operating expenses in the first half.
The Australian dollar is trading relatively steady against the greenback to buy 64.64 US cents, down slightly from 64.81 US cents on Monday at 5pm.
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