Due to growing euphoria on Wall Street, the Australian stock market reached a near record high on Thursday.
The benchmark ASX200 shot up to 7900 points at the opening bell, just 10.5 points below the index record of 7910.5, before declining slightly over the course of the day and closing the day up 0.93 percent at 7889.60.
The broader All Ordinaries Index rose 75.1 points, or 0.9 percent, to close at 8133.4, while technology stocks climbed 1.11 percent to 3144.1.
The upturn was broad-based: all eleven sectors closed in positive territory, led by the interest-sensitive real estate sector with an increase of 1.6 percent.
Several large companies set new records during the day, including financial heavyweight Commonwealth Bank, which reached a new high of $130.30 per share at the start of trading, but then settled for a gain of 1.07 percent at $129.92 at the close.
Real estate stock REA Group rose 1.38 percent, reaching a new high of $200.42.
The trigger for Thursday’s joy was a huge session on Wall Street on Wednesday night, when US stocks reached new highs.
The Dow Jones rose 1.09 percent to 39,721.36 points, while the S&P 500 rose 1.02 percent to 5,633 and the technology-heavy Nasdaq index climbed 1.18 percent to 18,647.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell sparked the bull market with dovish remarks to the U.S. Congress, telling politicians that the world’s largest economy was “no longer overheated.”

Investors are now increasingly confident that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in September, which would give new tailwind to equity markets.
Major mining companies reported profits even as iron ore prices fell 2.5 percent to $107 a tonne.
BHP rose 0.9 percent to $43.56, Rio Tinto added 0.21 percent to $119.62 and Fortescue climbed 1.9 percent to $22.
Two other major banks followed the CBA’s upward trend: Westpac rose 0.4 percent to $27.63 and NAB rose 1.06 percent to $36.20.
ANZ fell 1.21 percent to $29.34.
Utilities shares climbed higher after oil prices ended a three-day losing streak overnight.
Woodside Energy rose 1.16 percent to $28.84, while Santos rose 0.63 percent to $7.94.
Uranium stocks boomed after a surprise increase in mining taxes in Kazakhstan, the world’s largest uranium producer.
Boss Energy rose 6.13 percent to $3.98, while Deep Yellow rose 9.16 percent to $1.49.
“Today’s gains are consistent with our view that the ASX200 has spent the past three months consolidating and correcting gains from the low of 6751 in late October to the high of 7910.5 in early April,” said IG Markets analyst Tony Sycamore.
“A break above the all-time high at 7910.5 is needed to confirm that the correction is complete and the uptrend has resumed. The next stop is targeted at 8000.”

In corporate news, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission announced Federal Court proceedings against JB Hi-Fi subsidiary The Good Guys, alleging that the home goods company made false or misleading statements about its store credit program.
The stock emerged unscathed from the legal threat and rose 1.18 percent to $65.15.
The ACCC also raised “preliminary competition concerns” regarding the proposed acquisition of South Australian port company Flinders Logistics by rail freight company Aurizon.
Aurizon lost 0.56 percent and closed at $3.58.
The biggest gainer on the ASX200 was Telix Pharmaceuticals, whose shares rose 10.48 percent to a new high of $19.39.
The biggest laggard was the Netwealth Group, whose shares fell by 4.15 percent to $21.
The Australian dollar rose 0.14 percent to close at 67.5 US cents.