The Australian sharemarket finished higher on Friday, supported by gains in technology and financial stocks, as a rally on Wall Street following softer United States inflation data overnight revived expectations of further interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 40.0 points, or 0.5%, to close at 8,628.2, with eight of the 11 sectors ending the session in positive territory.
Despite the rebound, the benchmark declined 0.8% for the week and snapped three weeks of consecutive gains.
Investor sentiment improved after U.S. consumer prices increased by less than expected. However, economists cautioned that the data may have been distorted lower by disruptions linked to the U.S. government shutdown.
According to the CME Group FedWatch Tool, markets are now pricing a 24.4% chance of a Federal Reserve rate cut in January.
Technology stocks led the gains on the ASX, with Xero up 2.3%, TechnologyOne and Life360 adding 2.6% apiece, and Codan up 5.3%.
WiseTech Global advanced 3.2% after the completion of a board review into co-founder and executive chairman Richard White, which found no further issues requiring investigation.
Financial stocks also lifted the market. Commonwealth Bank lifted 1.8%, National Australia Bank added 0.8% and Westpac ended 1.3% higher.
ANZ finished flat after the Federal Court imposed an A$250 million penalty for the mishandling of a $14 billion government bond deal and other systemic failures that harmed taxpayers and retail customers.
By contrast, the materials sector weighed on the index as iron ore prices eased. Major miners BHP Group lost 1.2% and Rio Tinto ticked up 0.1%, while Fortescue Metals shed 3.2%.
Among individual stocks, 4DMedical surged 24% after securing a commercial agreement with the Cleveland Clinic to deploy its CT:VQ respiratory imaging technology.
Netwealth dropped 6.5% after agreeing to pay $101 million to compensate superannuation customers who invested in First Guardian.
Austal rose 5.8% after the shipbuilder secured a contract extension to construct two additional Evolved Cape-class patrol boats for the Australian Border Force, in a deal valued at more than $135 million.
On the bond markets, yields moved higher, with Australian 10-year and two-year government bond yields both rising 0.8% to 4.763% and 4.038%, respectively.
