The Australian share market has pushed further into record territory after Fed chairman Jerome Powell gave his strongest indication the US central bank will cut interest rates in September.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index traded above 8,100 for the first time on Thursday, finishing up 22.4 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 8,114.7, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 23.4 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 8,343.8.
The gains followed dovish comments by Mr Powell as the Fed's rate-setting committee kept US interest rates on hold, as was widely expected.
Mr Powell told reporters, however, that committee members believed the world's largest economy was moving closer to a point where a rate cut was appropriate.
If inflation continues to ease, a reduction in rates "could be on the table for as soon as the next meeting in September", he said.
Wall Street rallied in response, and that enthusiasm carried over into Australia's session, with the ASX setting its 10th all-time high for 2024.
Nine of the ASX's 11 sector finished higher, with industrials and financials down modestly.
The interest-rate-sensitive property sector was the biggest gainer, climbing 1.7 per cent as Goodman Group rose 3.8 per cent and Scentre Group added 0.9 per cent.
Zip Co was the biggest gainer in the ASX200, rising 5.2 per cent to a 29-month high of $2.01.
The Big Four banks were mixed, with CBA down 0.9 per cent to $136.27, NAB dipping 1.4 per cent to $38.05 and Westpac dipping 0.3 per cent to $29.71.
ANZ was the outlier, rising 0.7 per cent to $29.24.
Suncorp dipped 0.1 per cent to $17.79 as the group announced changes to its leadership team as it began a new chapter as a pure-play insurance company following this week's sale of its banking arm to ANZ for $4.1 billion.
In the heavyweight mining sector, goldminers fared well as the precious metal traded around $US2,445 an ounce, near its all-time high set a fortnight ago.
Newmont and Evolution both gained 2.0 per cent, while Northern Star advanced 0.9 per cent.
Elsewhere in the sector, Rio Tinto rose 1.9 per cent to $119.70, Fortescue climbed 0.6 per cent to $18.99 and BHP finished 0.5 per cent higher at $42.49.
Lithium miners were also in the green as US lithium giant Albemarle scaled back operations at its Kemerton plant in WA, with Core Lithium rising 10.5 per cent, Pilbara climbing 4.4 per cent and Liontown adding 1.6 per cent.
In industrials, Droneshield tumbled 14.8 per cent to a two-month low of $1.185 after the defence contractor completed a $120 million capital raising at a 17 per cent discount.
Droneshield shares have had a topsy-turvey year, rocketing from 37c in January to a peak of $2.60 in mid-July as the war in Ukraine highlighted how future conflicts will be largely fought via drones.
But in the past two weeks they've fallen sharply amid sentiment that the shares had become overvalued.
The Australian dollar had recovered some ground against its faltering US counterpart, buying 65.31 US cents, from 65.02 US cents at Wednesday's ASX close.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Thursday up 22.4 points, or 0.28 per cent, at 8,114.7.
* The broader All Ordinaries gained 23.4 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 8,343.8.
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 65.24 US cents, from 65.02 US cents at Wednesday's ASX close
* 98.02 Japanese yen, from 98.92 Japanese yen
* 60.35 euro cents, from 60.11 euro cents
* 50.96 British pence, from 50.66 pence
* 109.77 NZ cents, from 109.89 NZ cents.
