The Australian sharemarket finished near record highs on Thursday, as investor sentiment improved following a pause in U.S. tariff negotiations.
The S&P/ASX200 index gained 103.8 points or 1.2% to 8,520.7, with nine of 11 sectors trading higher.
Financial and consumer discretionary stocks led the market, lifting 1.8% apiece.
Major banks closed in the green, as ANZ and Commonwealth Bank gained 2.6% apiece, Westpac lifted 2.2%, and NAB up 2.5%.
Meanwhile, Wesfarmers jumped 3.3% after a UBS rating upgrade, while News Corp led the index with gains of 5.8% after reporting strong second-quarter results.
REA Group also added 1.2% after reporting a 20% jump in revenue to $873 million and a 26% rise in profit to $314 million.
Energy stocks underperformed as Brent crude traded near multi-week lows.
Santos fell 0.6%, while Beach Energy shed 5% despite posting a 37% profit rise, as the company narrowed its FY25 guidance.
PEXA slumped 3% after increasing its impairment forecast to up to $40 million for FY25 and announcing the departure of its Australian CEO.
On the bond markets, 10-year and 2-year rates were up 0.4% and 0.8% to 4.322% and 3.768%, respectively.
