Australia shares hit record high on Fed rate cut boost
Sept 20 (Reuters) -Australian shares touched an all-time high on Friday, as optimism around the U.S. Federal Reserve's oversized interest rate cut overshadowed concerns about a domestic jobs report pointing to a longer wait for the local central bank's easing.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO was up 0.6% at a record peak of 8,243.3, as of 00:40 GMT, and on track to a seventh straight session of gains.
Earlier this week, the Fed announced a bigger-than-usual half-percentage-point cut, and indicated more rate cuts were on the horizon, sending Wall Street to record highs on Thursday. .N
Overnight, the U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 522.09 points, or 1.26%, at 42,025.19 points. The S&P 500 .SPX gained 95.38 points, or 1.70% while Nasdaq .IXIC gained 440.68 points, or 2.51%.
In Australia, data on Thursday showed employment surged beyond expectations in August, further tempering hopes of the Reserve Bank of Australia to start cutting rates at its monetary policy meeting next week.
Miners .AXMM led gains on Friday, climbing 0.9%, as iron ore prices firmed on stimulus hopes from top consumer China. IRONORE/
Mining goliaths BHP Group BHP.AX and Rio Tinto RIO.AX both jumped 0.7%.
Financials .AXFJ were up 0.6%, with all of the 'Big Four' banks rising between 0.3% and 0.6%. The sub-index hit a record high earlier in the session.
Energy companies .AXEJ and gold stocks .AXGD gained 0.7% and 0.8%, respectively, on stronger underlying prices. O/R GOL/
Information technology firms .AXIJ tracked their U.S. peers up 0.9% to a record high, while healthcare sector .AXHJ was up 0.2%.
Myer Holdings MYR.AX tanked 9%, as the retailer posted lower annual profit and cut its dividend by half.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.4% to 12,613.72.
Reporting by Aaditya Govind Rao in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich
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