The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up as much as 7,638.8 on Wednesday afternoon after the data release, having risen 38.6 points, or 0.51 per cent, to eclipse its previous all-time record of 7,632.8 set back on August 13, 2021.
The broader All Ordinaries had added 34.6 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 7,869.6.
“Long live the #BullMarket!” tweeted Market Index analyst Carl Capolingua, adding a bull emoji.
The index had previously came close to breaking through the all-time high on January 2 and on Tuesday, but hadn’t quite managed it.
On Wednesday the ASX200 had been down by as many as 30 points in the first hour of trading, but shot up after the release of official inflation data.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported just before noon that consumer prices rose 0.6 per cent in the the December quarter, the smallest quarterly rise since March 2021.
The annual rate was 4.1 per cent, under expectations of a 4.3 per cent readout and down from 5.4 per cent recorded at the end of September.
“This is good for consumers, good for most businesses and good for equity markets,” said Rob Talevski, Webull’s Australia CEO.
“”It is not surprising to see the ASX 200 rally immediately.”
The ASX’s 11 sectors were mixed at midday, with six up and five down.
Utilities were the biggest mover, climbing 1.8 per cent as Origin Energy added 1.9 per cent on a quarterly report.
The Big Four banks were mostly higher, with Westpac up by 0.6 per cent, ANZ adding 0.5 per cent and CBA rising 0.3 per cent. NAB was the outlier, trading flat.
In the heavyweight mining sector, BHP was down 0.4 per cent, Fortescue dropped 0.9 per cent and Rio Tinto dipped 0.3 per cent.
Select Harvests was up 16.7 per cent to a two-month high of $3.71 after the nut grower reported strong 2024 crop volumes and strengthening market pricing.
With a few hours of trading left in January, the ASX200 was on track to finish the month up 19.7 points, or 0.2 per cent, from where it started. If the gains hold it will be the index’s third straight winning month.
– AAP
