ASX Today Live News & Analysis

The Australian share market has risen for a fifth-straight session and closed the month higher, as hopes of an interest rate cut narrowed on favourable inflation data.

The S&P/ASX200 rose 55.6 points, or 0.69 per cent, to 8,126.2, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 53.1 points, or 0.64 per cent, to 8,341.

The markets overcame some early jitters after quarterly inflation came in slightly higher than expected on Wednesday, but the two indexes pushed higher during the afternoon as experts confirmed expectations for a Reserve Bank rate cut in May.

"It has been obviously an incredibly eventful and volatile month for markets around the world, but at least we're up 3.6 per cent in April, which is the best month we've had since January," CommSec market analyst Steven Daghlian told AAP.

"If you can believe this, we've had an 11-and-a-half per cent swing from the low to high point in April."

The rally was supported by a 1.1 per cent boost to the financial sector, as Australia's biggest mortgage lender CBA surged 2.2 per cent to $166.60, roughly two dollars from its all-time peak.

Westpac, the nation's second-biggest mortgage lender with about one-fifth of the market, only rose 0.6 per cent after it told shareholders hedging items would cut $140 million from first-half profits.

Trade worries and their impact on China's economic growth weighed on the materials sector, which finished down 0.4 per cent after Chinese manufacturing data fell to a 16-month low.

Energy stocks also suffered after Brent crude futures slumped 0.8 per cent to $US62.51 shortly after the disappointing data from the world's biggest crude importer.

Energy was the worst performing sector in April, down 7.7 per cent, while IT bounced more than six per cent over the month, despite still trading at an 18 per cent discount from all-time highs.

Financials were another success story, finishing the month 5.5 per cent higher after slipping as much as 9.4 per cent in the days after Donald Trump announced his 'Liberation Day' tariffs, sending shockwaves through global equities markets.

The Australian dollar rallied against most major currencies after the inflation data print to fetch 64.10 US cents, still down slightly from 64.21 US cents on Tuesday at 5pm.

Looking ahead, the core PCE index - the US Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure - is due overnight, along with quarterly earnings from Microsoft and Facebook owner Meta.

Closer to home, Rio Tinto will hold its AGM on Thursday, with shareholders set to vote on the merits of unifying the company's dual-listed structure into a single listing on the ASX.

ON THE ASX:

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Wednesday up 55.6 points, or 0.69 per cent, to 8,126.2

The broader All Ordinaries rose 53.1 points, or 0.64 per cent, to 8,341

The NZX 50 Lost -122.14 points (-1.03%) to 11,903.31 while the Nikkei gained 205.39 points (0.57%) at the time of writing, to be closed at 36,045.38

Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):

Bank of Queensland Limited