Australian shares notch record close, led by miners and rising rate cut hopes

Dominos Pizza Enterprises

02/07/2025 07:45

ASX200 finishes at an all-time high

Miners advance 1.6%, end at 2-week high

Sluggish retail sales cement rate cut bets

NZ50 ends at near two-month high

Updates to market close

By Nikita Maria Jino

July 2 (Reuters) - Australian shares finished at a new all-time high on Wednesday, driven by a broad-based rally led by miners, as sluggish retail sales fuelled expectations of an interest rate cut next week and boosted risk appetite.

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO gained 0.7% to end at a record close of 8,597.70 points, although volumes were the lowest since early January as investors awaited the U.S. tariffs deadline and the full-year earnings cycle next month.

Mining stocks .AXMM advanced 1.6% to finish at a two-week high. Sector giants BHP BHP.AX and Rio Tinto RIO.AX rose 1.7% and 2.1%, respectively.

The sub-index has been a drag on the benchmark this year as uncertainty over U.S.-China trade relations weighed on domestic miners, which rely on exports to top iron ore consumer China.

However, resilient Chinese economic data and hopes of a tariff deal between the world's top two economies are stoking a "risk-on" move for big miners, said Damian Rooney, institutional sales director at Argonaut.

Retail sales data showed minimal growth for a fourth straight month in May, strengthening the case for an interest rate cut next week. All Big Four banks now expect a quarter-point reduction on Tuesday, after ANZ ANZ.AX brought forward its rate cut call to July.

Real estate stocks .AXRE added 1.8% to scale a three-week high, while consumer staples .AXSJ gained 0.6% in their third straight session in green.

Banks .AXFJ reversed early losses to close unchanged, with top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX also reversing course to finish 0.6% in green.

Separately, Domino's Pizza Enterprises DMP.AX declined 15.8% to its lowest in more than 11 years after it announced the departure of its CEO Mark van Dyck, later this year.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 finished 0.4% higher at 12,784.29 points, its highest close since mid-May.

 (Reporting by Nikita Maria Jino in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)

 ((Nikita.Jino@thomsonreuters.com;))

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