The Australian sharemarket notched a new milestone on Thursday, with the benchmark climbing beyond 9,000 points for the first time.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index added 101.1 points or 1.1% to 9,019.1, underpinned by a strong round of corporate earnings, which lifted 10 of the 11 sectors.
Industrials led the gains as logistics giant Brambles surged 13.2% after reporting an underlying profit and operating profit increase of 9% to US$1.372 billion (A$2.11 billion), as well as a US$400 million share buyback.
Transurban also contributed, rising 3.3% after brokers upgraded the stock in the wake of its latest results.
Financials provided heavyweight support, with Commonwealth Bank adding 0.8%, Westpac up 1.3%, National Australia Bank gaining 0.9%, and ANZ trading 1.5% higher.
Healthcare stocks bounced back, led by CSL, which advanced 2.4% as investors returned to the stock following a sharp sell-off on its earnings and restructuring update earlier in the week.
The standout gainer was Super Retail, which jumped 12.3% after beating analyst expectations for the past financial year.
Northern Star Resources also lifted, climbing 0.5% after posting record underlying free cash flow of A$536 million, and lifting its dividend payout by 37%.
Goodman Group swung back to profitability, reporting a net profit of A$1.67 billion for 2025 after a loss of $98.9 million the year before. However, shares slipped 1.4% after giving up early gains.
Not all earnings stories were positive. James Hardie tumbled another 9.4% following multiple broker downgrades, extending Wednesday’s 27.8% plunge after a significant earnings miss.
On the bond markets, yields eased slightly, with the 10-year government bond at 4.277% and the 2-year at 3.33%.
