A feverish bull run on Wall Street drove the local stock market to new records on Wednesday.
The benchmark ASX200 rose 58.6 points, or 0.73 percent, to a record 8057.9 points, while the broader All Ordinaries Index rose 60.2 points, or 0.73 percent, to 8303.5 points.
Technology stocks climbed 0.79 percent to 3184.8.
The rally was broad-based: all eleven sectors closed in positive territory, led by the interest-sensitive real estate sector with a gain of 1.49 percent.
Goodman Group rose 1.16 percent to $36.67 per share, Scentre Group rose 1.83 percent to $3.34 and Domain Holdings rose 2.15 percent to $3.32.
With Wednesday’s session, the benchmark gained 241 points or 3 percent compared to its closing price of 7,816.8 points on July 10.
“Last week saw the annual running of the bulls in Pamplona, a tradition that dates back to the 13th century in Spain and takes place every year from July 6-14,” said IG market analyst Tony Sycamore.
“The timing coincided with the start of the Australian version of the bull run on the Australian stock exchange.
“Given that the timing and speed of the move likely caught some investors by surprise, we expect the ASX200 to be well supported on dips between 8000 and 7900.”
The bull market is taking its cues from Wall Street, which is currently in the grip of a feverish rally fueled by excitement about artificial intelligence, expectations of imminent interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and the increasing likelihood of a Donald Trump victory in the US presidential election in November, which some investors see as positive for the economy.
The Dow Jones rose 1.85 percent or 742 points on Tuesday night, reaching a record high of 40,964.
The S&P 500 rose 0.64 percent to 5,667, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.2 percent to 18,509.
The major mining companies closed lower on Wednesday: BHP lost 0.9 percent to $42.70, Fortescue lost 1 percent to $22.36 and Rio Tinto lost 0.3 percent to $116.46.
However, the major banks were able to gain: Commonwealth Bank rose 0.8 percent to $133.50, Westpac rose 1 percent to $28.48, NAB rose 1 percent to $37.77 and ANZ climbed 0.64 percent to $29.97.
Gold mines also saw an upward trend due to rising gold prices.
Bellevue Gold rose 1.9 percent to $190, West African Resources jumped 3 percent to $1.54 and Evolution Mining gained 1.53 percent to $3.98.
In corporate news, shares of troubled casino operator Star Entertainment rose 2 percent to 50 cents after the company announced a solution for its electronic gaming machines.
DroneShield, a company specializing in drone defense technology, continued its steep decline, losing 9.4 percent to close at $1.83, after already falling 22.3 percent on Tuesday.
There is no obvious news triggering the free fall, but the company has hinted that a Capital Brief article may have triggered the sell-off.
Fashion company Cettire saw sharp intraday share price fluctuations after releasing additional results showing that FY24 gross sales would be between $975 million and $980 million.
The stock jumped in morning trading, but ultimately lost 4 percent and closed at $1.44.
The biggest winner in the ASX200 was healthcare company Polynovo Limited, whose share price rose 9.3 percent to $2.59.
The biggest laggard was the uranium mining company Deep Yellow, which lost 3.5 percent to $1.37.
The Australian dollar rose 0.06 percent and closed at 67.3 US cents.