LONDON: Australian shares inched higher to a fresh record high on Thursday with miners leading gains as investors cheered on the Federal Reserve's 50 basis-point interest rate reduction, while also monitoring the local jobs data due later in the day.
The S&P/ASX 200 index inched higher by 0.3 per cent to 8,168.7 points at 1236 GMT, beating its previous record high of 8,153.50 points from Wednesday.
The world's largest economy witnessed a rate cut for the first time in more than four years as the Federal Reserve cut the interest rate by 50 basis points, the high side of estimates.
Locally, investors are on the watch for the August jobs data due at 0130 GMT, for further clues on the Reserve Bank of Australia's cash rate decision next week.
Miners advanced as much as 1.3 per cent with BHP Group , Rio Tinto and Fortescue gaining between 0.6 per cent and 1.5 per cent.
Rate-sensitive financials were up as much as 0.6 per cent, rising to its record high level, with the "Big Four" banks gaining between 0.4 per cent and 0.9 per cent.
Energy stocks were up as much as 0.5 per cent despite global oil prices slipping after the Fed's rate cut.
Meanwhile, gold stocks shed as much as 0.8 per cent.
Overnight, the U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 103.08 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 41,503.10 points on Wednesday. The S&P 500 lost 16.32 points, or 0.29 per cent, while Nasdaq lost 54.76 points, or 0.31 per cent.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was up 0.4 per cent at 12,637.7 points.
The country's gross domestic product fell 0.2 per cent in the June quarter from the prior quarter as a number of industries slowed.
"Looking ahead, these data haven't materially changed our expectations for the outlook, with growth likely to remain anaemic over the rest of 2024, before a gradual recovery through 2025," said analysts at ANZ Research in a note.