The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) continues to regain ground after softening inflation in the March quarter clears the way for another 25-basis-point rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) next week.
ANZ Senior Economist Adelaide Timbrell says trimmed mean inflation printed at a “soft” 0.7% in Q1 of 2025 compared to the final quarter of 2024, a result that is in line with the bank’s expectations but slightly above the 0.6% market consensus.
Headline inflation came in at 0.9% quarter over quarter, with annual inflation dropping to 2.4% year over year, both of which also matched ANZ’s predictions.
A 16.3% quarter-over-quarter hike in electricity prices contributed to the headline inflation coming in higher for the quarter than the trimmed mean inflation numbers.
“We view an RBA rate cut of 25 basis points in May as a near certainty, given the downside risks to global and domestic growth stemming from global trade policy uncertainty and the inflation outcomes over the past two quarters,” she says.
The S&P/ASX 200 closed up 55.6 points, or 0.69%, at 8,126.2 points on Wednesday (30 April).
Over the last five days the index has gained 2.6% and is little changed from the level it was at the start of the year.
Seven of the 11 sectors ended the trading session on a high note, with consumer discretionary the best performing after advancing 1.30% today and 3.51% over the past five sessions.
The financial sector climbed 0.79% and industrials rose 0.69%, while utilities tumbled 1.54%, energy dipped 0.58% and materials fell 0.56%.
IGO (ASX:IGO) was a top mover today, adding 3.43% to end the session at $3.92. Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR), meanwhile, retreated 7.9% to $0.53 and Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN) dropped 4.41% to $5.86.
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 & iStock
