End-of-day summary:
The ASX 200 closed at a record after robust Chinese economic data soothed worries about the impact of this year's trade war on Australia's most important trading partner.
The Australian benchmark rallied 60 points or 0.7% to 8630.3, eclipsing the previous closing high of 8603 set on July 4.
CSL, Macquarie Group and Telstra were the pick of the heavyweight movers as ten of eleven sectors advanced. Materials was the outlier, easing 0.32% as Rio Tinto, Fortescue and BHP sat out the rally.
The market overcame a first-hour wobble after reports showing Chinese GDP and factory production expanded faster last month than economists expected.
US stocks inched higher overnight as the prospect of a round of solid quarterly corporate reports helped offset more tariff threats from the White House. The S&P 500 edged up 0.14% ahead of trading updates tonight from JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup.
