The Australian sharemarket closed at a fresh all-time high on Wednesday, driven by a sharp rebound in technology stocks and a 13% surge in supermarket heavyweight Woolworths following stronger-than-expected results.
The S&P/ASX 200 finished 106.0 points or 1.2% at 9,128.3, with eight of the 11 sectors ending the session in positive territory.
Investor sentiment was buoyed by a powerful recovery in United States technology stocks overnight, with the local Information Technology sector climbing more than 5%.
Xero rose 5.5%, TechnologyOne added 3.7% and NextDC advanced 5.4%. WiseTech Global also surged 11.1% after unveiling plans to cut up to 2,000 roles from its 7,000-strong workforce over the next two years, as it accelerates investment in AI-driven products and features.
The Consumer Staples sector also rallied more than 5%, underpinned by a strong performance from Woolworths Group. Shares in the supermarket giant rocketed 13% after it reported underlying half-year earnings of $1.66 billion, beating market estimates by 6%.
In the Materials sector, Fortescue Metals Group added 4.7% after announcing an interim dividend of 62¢ per share, ahead of expectations, following a 23% rise in half-year profit to US$1.9 billion (A$2.7 billion).
Mining majors BHP Group and Rio Tinto also gained 3.2% and 2.1%, respectively, with BHP closing at a fresh record high.
Elsewhere, counter-drone technology firm DroneShield climbed 12.6% after posting a full-year net profit of $3.5 million, up 367%, as revenue surged 276% to $216.5 million amid strong global demand.
Gaming and wagering operator Tabcorp rallied 23.5% after reporting group earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $217 million for the December half, 11% ahead of forecasts.
Footwear retailer Accent Group jumped 19.9% after exceeding its first-half dividend expectations and delivering a stronger-than-forecast 5.3% rise in revenue to $817 million.
By contrast, Domino's Pizza Enterprises slumped 11.1%, the worst performer on the index, after cutting its interim dividend to 25¢ per share from 55.5¢ a year earlier.
Financial technology provider Iress rose 9.6% after forecasting underlying profit growth of between 15% and 24% next year, as management continues its cost-cutting programme.
On the macroeconomic front, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed consumer prices rose 3.8% in the 12 months to January 2026. Trimmed mean inflation edged up to 3.4% from 3.3% in December.
Economists had expected headline inflation to ease to 3.7% and underlying inflation to remain steady at 3.3%.
On the bond markets, Australian yields moved higher, with the 10-year rate rising 0.5% to 4.724% and the two-year yield climbing 0.7% to 4.231%.
