Market Wrap / record reset

The S&P/ASX200 defied expectations and climbed by 0.6% to 8493.70 this Thursday, reaching an intraday record high of 8515.1 points before easing slightly.Investors have been buoyed by the prospect of an RBA rate cut, with NAB rounding out a call by the Big Four for a February cut. The consumer stocks benefited from that optimism. Woolworths and Coles both gained around 1% while Aristocrat jumped 3.7%. 

Jewellery retailer Lovisa added to yesterday's losses as the company was hit by a class action for allegedly underpaying staff.

The financial sector also enjoyed a rate-related surge. All major banks closed in the green, with NAB leading the pack and gaining 1%. However, Zip tumbled 25.4% with it having gained around 250% over the past year. Shareholders chose to take profit with it missing on revenue.

Credit Corp Group dived 12.6% on perceptions that its US business growth had undershot expectations. 

In the energy space, Karoon announced an on-market share buyback of $US75 million shares, taking the share price 7.7% higher. And Woodside gained 0.7%.

The uranium miners continued their recovery from a sharp DeepSeek related sell-off. Boss and Paladin rising 4.6% and 3.8% respectively. Investors will now look at the US GDP data overnight, before Australian producer prices are revealed tomorrow.