The Australian sharemarket traded near all-time highs Wednesday, as inflation data showed a sharper-than-expected slowdown, boosting expectations of an interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) next month.
The S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.6% higher at 8,447.00, just 0.8% from record highs, with the utilities and technology sectors driving gains.
Investor sentiment improved following the latest consumer price index (CPI) data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which showed inflation easing in the December quarter.
Utilities, a sector highly sensitive to interest rate movements, led the market, rising 2%. Mercury NZ surged 7.7%, while Origin Energy gained 1.6% and AGL lifted 3.2%.
Technology shares also performed strongly after U.S. tech stocks rebounded overnight, recovering from a sell-off triggered by concerns over China's DeepSeek AI model challenging U.S.-developed artificial intelligence technologies.
Appen jumped 6.9%, WiseTech Global climbed 2.6%, Novonix added 5.5%, while Xero advanced 2.5%.
Among individual stocks, Star Entertainment Group surged 13%, leading the ASX 200 after the embattled casino operator announced the sale of several Sydney assets, including its Star Sydney Event Centre, for A$60 million to Foundation Theatres.
Meanwhile, Boss Energy posted strong gains, rising 5.6%, after reaffirming its production guidance for the financial year.
On the bond markets, 10-year and two-year rates fell 0.9% and 1.3% to 4.376% and 3.815%, respectively.
