Australian stocks jumped 140 points, or 1.6%, to 8,773 in Friday morning trade, erasing the previous session’s losses and marking their highest level in a week. The advance followed strong overnight gains on Wall Street after President Trump indicated the U.S. was close to finalizing a deal with Iran, with a signing potentially taking place this weekend in Europe alongside Vice President JD Vance.
Sentiment was further supported by growing expectations that the Reserve Bank may pause cash rate increases at next week’s policy meeting, after three hikes so far this year. Adding to the optimism, consumer inflation expectations eased to 5.5% in June, the lowest reading since March.
Gains were broad-based across all sectors, led by non-energy minerals, process industries, producer manufacturing, and financials. The big four banks rose between 0.9% and 1.6%. Among individual standouts, BHP Group climbed 2.6%, Evolution Mining gained 6.2%, PLS Group advanced 5.2%, and Qantas Airways added 4.5%.
With weekly gains of about 1.7% so far, the local market is on course for a sharp rebound following weakness in the previous period.
