The Australian share market has rallied to a nearly two-week high after Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell hinted the powerful US central bank might be done with its aggressive rate-hiking cycle.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Thursday finished up 61.4 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 6,899.7, its highest close since October 20 and its strongest one-day performance since October 10.
The broader All Ordinaries gained 70.4 points, or 1.0 per cent, to 7,095.
Overnight, the Fed kept US interest rates on hold for a second meeting, as was widely expected, but Mr Powell's comments during a media briefing were taken as more dovish than anticipated.
"The question we’re asking is: should we hike more?" Mr Powell told reporters. "Slowing down is giving us, I think, a better sense of how much more we need to do, if we need to do more."
JPMorgan economists said in a note that the Fed chairman also seemed comfortable with the progress being made towards its inflation target and was sanguine about the stance of a broad array of inflation expectations.
US 10-year Treasury yields slipped 19 basis points to a two-week low of 4.73 per cent while Wall Street had its best session in more than two weeks.
Nine of the ASX's 11 sectors finished in the green, with tech gaining 3.2 per cent and property adding 2.4 per cent.
The utilities sector fell 3.8 per cent as Origin Energy's potential acquisition by a private equity consortium hit the rocks following opposition from its largest shareholder.
Origin Energy shares dropped 6.6 per cent to a nearly two-month low of $8.47 after AustralianSuper said Brookfield and EIG Partners' revised "best and highest" bid of $9.531 per share was not acceptable.
Elsewhere, all of the big four banks were higher, with ANZ climbing 2.0 per cent to $25.37, Westpac adding 2.1 per cent to $21.17, NAB up 1.5 per cent to $28.57 and CBA finished 1.6 per cent higher at $98.43.
In the heavyweight mining sector, Fortescue added 1.7 per cent to $23.25, Rio Tinto gained 1.1 per cent to $121.76 and BHP advanced 0.4 per cent to $45.38.
In the energy sector, Santos dropped 3.0 per cent to $7.51 after the Federal Court granted an interim injunction blocking work on Santos' $5.8 billion Barossa gas project in the Timor sea, following a complaint by a Tiwi islander that its pipeline would impact submerged Tiwi cultural heritage.
A pipelay vehicle would hold in Darwin until the court takes up whether to extend the injunction beyond November 13, Santos said.
In tech, Bravura Solutions rose 16.7 per cent to a one-year high of 80.5c after new CEO Andrew Russell told its annual general meeting that the financial services software company was in the early stages of transformation and cost-cutting after a year of upheaval in 2022/23.
Redbubble dropped 2.7 per cent to 54c on its last day of trading under that name.
As of Friday the print-on-design company will be known as Articore Group, better reflecting its operations as the operator of the Redbubble and Teepublic online marketplaces.
Aussie Broadband was in a trading halt after announcing it would raise $120 million at a 9.4 per cent discount, in part to fund its acquisition of voice communications company Symbio.
The Australian dollar was at a three-week high against its US counterpart, which slid against other currencies on increased expectations US rates had hit their peak.
The Aussie was buying 64.25 US cents, from 63.35 US cents at Wednesday's ASX close.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Thursday up 61.4 points, or 0.9 per cent, at 6,899.7.
* The broader All Ordinaries rose 70.4 points, or 1.0 per cent, to 7,095.0.
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 64.25 US cents, from 63.35 US cents at Wednesday's ASX close
* 96.66 Japanese yen, from 95.83 Japanese yen
* 60.62 Euro cents, from 59.94 Euro cents
* 52.74 British pence, from 52.20 pence
* 109.21 NZ cents, from 109.05 NZ cents.
