Amid heightened speculation of anticipate interest rate cuts, Australian shares saw minor gains on Thursday, largely on the back of increasing financial stocks.
These fluctuations come as a result of disappointing domestic growth data, notably for Q4.
The S&P/ASX 200 index (ASX:AXJO), for instance, rose modestly by 0.2% to reach 7,745.5.
This trajectory closely mirrors that of the previous day’s increase of 0.1%.
A contributing factor to investors' likelihood to bet on interest rate cuts was slower-than-projected growth in gross domestic product (GDP) for the October-December quarter.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics attributed this development to the successful initiatives put forth by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to curb inflation and consumer demand in Australia.
Analysts from Westpac expect this economic frailty to persist in the near future, with the potential for relief appearing around the middle of the year.
As the inflation situation improves, interest rates are predicted to lower from September onwards.
Citi analysts also anticipate cuts in August and November.
The financials sub-index (ASX:AXFJ) reached its highest point in over 16 years, growing by 0.4%.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA) and National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB) advanced by 0.4% and 0.7%, respectively.
Technology stocks, notably from Wisetech Global (ASX:WTC) and Xero (ASX:XRO), saw gains of 1.1% and 1.7%.
With bullion prices on the rise, gold stocks (ASX:AXGD) rose by 1%.
Contrarily, the mining sector (ASX:AXMM) saw a decrease of 0.4% due to poor iron ore futures resulting from an unstable steel market.
BHP Group (ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) experienced losses of 1.3% and 2.5%, respectively.
Energy stocks, too, saw a decrease of 1%, with stocks from Woodside Energy (ASX:WDS) seeing a significant decline of 2.8%.
Meanwhile, over in New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 index rose by 0.3% / 37.77 points, ending up at 11,833.67.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA) is the largest lender in the country and has been operational for over a century.