The S&P/ASX 200 added 47.30 points, or 0.56%, to notch a new 100-day high, closing the session at 8,495.20 points.
Over the last five days, the index has gained 1.62% and is currently 0.23% off its 52-week high.
Nine of the 11 sectors closed higher on Tuesday (3 December). Health care rallied 1.15%, consumer discretionary rose 1.05%, industrials advanced 0.92% and energy ended the session up 0.27%. Materials, however, edged back 0.05%.
Gold miner Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST) retreated 2.77% to $16.13 and metallurgical coal producer Coronado Global Resources (ASX:CRN) slid 2.70% to $0.90.
The rally in the health care sector helped the S&P/ASX 200 up over 8,500 points — the third record in the past week — with market commentators suggesting the 8,800-point mark could be within reach.
Jessica Amir, a market strategist at online trading platform Moomoo, told the Australian Financial Review that when the options market suggests the US will rise 2.4% to 4.2% this month, then the Australian market might follow suit and could be closer to 8,800 points.
The S&P/ASX200 is Australia’s leading share market index and contains the top 200 ASX-listed companies in terms of market capitalisation, and accounts for about 80% of the country’s equity market. The index is designed to measure the performance of the 200 largest index-eligible stocks listed on the ASX by float-adjusted market capitalisation
It is recognised as the institutional investable benchmark in the country.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: ASX & Stock
