Aussie shares rally to second all-time high of the week

The local share market has set a record high for the second time this week despite a strong domestic jobs report putting a kibosh on talks of the Reserve Bank cutting rates for Christmas.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Thursday finished up 71.2 points, or 0.86 per cent, to 8,355.9, eclipsing the previous closing record of 8,318.4 set on Tuesday.

The broader All Ordinaries gained 67.5 points, or 0.79 per cent, to 8,624.1.

Moomoo market strategist Jessica Amir said markets had regained some pep in their step after US banking giant Morgan Stanley beat third-quarter earnings expectations overnight, leading its stock to rally 6.5 per cent.

Beyond that, bond yields had been "falling like a stone", the US dollar was pausing, it seemed the US Federal Reserve had room to trim rates further and other US companies had been reporting strong earnings, Ms Amir said.

The ASX200 was up by as much as 1.2 per cent in late-morning trading but trimmed its gains after the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported better-than-expected labour market data for September, with another 64,000 jobs created.

JP Morgan economist Tom Kennedy said the blemish-free labour report removed any lingering speculation of a rate cut in November while pouring cold water on a December move.

Other economists with AMP, NAB, ANZ, RBC Capital Markets, HSBC and Oxford Economics Australia all had similar takes, saying the report supported the view the RBA would not cut rates until 2025.

CBA was the outlier, sticking with its prediction for a December rate cut, although economist Gareth Aird acknowledged that call seemed less likely now.

Nine of the ASX's 11 sectors finished higher, with technology dropping 1.1 per cent and materials falling 0.4 per cent.

The industrials sector was the biggest gainer, rising 1.8 per cent as Brambles climbed 3.2 per cent and Qantas added 2.3 per cent.

In the energy sector, uranium companies were soaring after Amazon became the latest tech giant to embrace nuclear energy to power its data centres.

Amazon subsidiary AWS said it had signed an agreement with a Virginia utility to explore the development of small nuclear reactors, following similar announcements from Google earlier in the week.

Paladin Energy rose 11 per cent, Deep Yellow advanced 7.3 per cent and Boss Energy grew 6.7 per cent.

Westpac led the big four banks higher, climbing 2.6 per cent to $32.55, followed by NAB, which expanded 1.7 per cent to $39.12.

CBA added 1.6 per cent to $142, while ANZ grew 1.3 per cent to $31.82.

AMP soared 17.7 per cent to a three-and-a-half-year high of $1.595 after the wealth manager said its assets under management had increased across several divisions and its new digital bank was on track to launch in early 2025.

On the flip side, OFX Group plunged 35.8 per cent to a five-month low of $1.465 after the international money services provider said a slower-than-expected shift in the interest rate cycle had inhibited client trading patterns in recent months, resulting in lower-than-expected fee and trading revenue.

In the heavyweight mining sector, the iron ore giants were lower while goldminers were higher.

BHP dropped 1.3 per cent to $42.99, Fortescue fell 2.7 per cent to $19.91 and Rio Tinto dipped 1.8 per cent to $118.63.

Northern Star climbed 1.3 per cent, West African Resources grew 3.2 per cent and Westgold soared 10.4 per cent as the precious metal changed hands at $US2,681 an ounce, just under its all-time high.

The Australian dollar was buying 66.90 US cents, from 66.96 US cents at Wednesday's ASX close.

ON THE ASX:

* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Thursday up 71.2 points, or 0.86 per cent, at 8,355.9

* The All Ordinaries gained 67.5 points, or 0.79 per cent, at 8,624.1

CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:

One Australian dollar buys:

* 66.90 US cents, from 66.96 US cents at Wednesday's ASX close

* 100.00 Japanese yen, from 99.98 yen

* 61.64 euro cents, from 61.52 euro cents

* 51.52 British pence, from 51.41 pence

* 110.31 NZ cents, from 110.38 NZ cents

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