The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 47.7 points, or 0.56 per cent, at 8,494.7 at lunchtime Thursday, less than 20 points from a record peak set on December 3.Â
The broader All Ordinaries was up 48.8 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 8,749.5.
Overnight the US Federal Reserve kept interest rates on hold, as was widely expected, with Fed chairman Jerome Powell signaling that the US central bank might leave interest rates where they are for a meaningful period.
Following his press conference Comerica economists revised their expectations for US rate cuts, now forecasting just one this year rather than two.
Meanwhile, Microsoft and Meta beat earnings expectations but Tesla's fourth-quarter revenue came in slightly below analysts' predictions.
Closer to home, all of the big four banks are now predicting that the Reserve Bank will cut interest rates next month, after NAB on Thursday revised its call following Wednesday's cooler-than-expected fourth-quarter inflation readout.
"We still expect the cutting phase to be gradual," NAB's economics team wrote.
At midday, seven of the ASX's 11 sectors were higher, and four were lower.
Energy was the biggest gainer, up 1.2 per cent as Woodside and Whitehaven Coal gained similarly.
In the financial sector, Zip Co had plunged 22.9 per cent to a four-month low of $2.52 after the buy now, pay later company reported a drop in the second-quarter out of Australia and New Zealand and less-than-expected cash earnings of $35.3 million.
Credit Corp was down 8.7 per cent to a two-week low of $16.65 after the debt collector reported slightly softer collection trends than expected in the second half.
The big four banks were all higher, with CBA up 0.6 per cent, NAB gaining 1.0 per cent and Westpac and ANZ both growing 0.2 per cent.
In the heavyweight mining sector, BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue were all up 1.0 per cent.
In the technology sector, Appen had sunk 10.7 per cent to $2.34 after the AI dataset training company reported it brought in $66.7 million revenue in the fourth quarter, down seven per cent from a year ago.
The Australian dollar was buying 62.39 US cents, from 62.44 US cents at close of business Wednesday.
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