The Australian sharemarket climbed above 8000 for the first time amid a broad rally, buoyed by speculation of a potential US Federal Reserve rate cut. The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.6%, or 45.8 points, to 8005.1 as of 2:39 pm AEST, with all 11 sectors in positive territory. This follows a strong lead from Wall Street, where the S&P 500 hit a new record high and the Dow Jones surpassed 40,000, driven by increased rate cut bets.

TMS Capital’s Ben Clark attributed the rally to positive sentiment around Fed rate cuts. BetaShares’ David Bassanese noted the local market’s potential in a global rotation away from US large-cap tech stocks. Interest-rate-sensitive tech stocks jumped 1.3%, with WiseTech up 2.4% and Xero up 1.1%. Materials gained, led by Fortescue Metals (+2%) and BHP (+0.9%).

Lifestyle Communities dropped 15% amid unethical conduct allegations. Aussie Broadband fell 14.3% after lowering FY25 earnings guidance and launching its low-cost brand, Buddy Telco.