Day traders' after-market lounge December 28

Thanks afternoon crew.

End-of-day summary:

The Australian share market closed within 0.25% of an all-time high, mirroring a similar move on Wall Street as investors positioned for interest rate cuts next year.

The ASX 200 rallied 53 points or 0.7% to 7614.3, finishing just 18.5 points short of the index's intraday peak of 7632.8 back in August 2021.

Optimism over Chinese stimulus measures helped lift mining heavyweights BHP and Fortescue Metals further into record territory. Also notably strong were banking and consumer stocks.

Overnight, the S&P 500 edged up 0.14% to narrow the gap to its January 2022 record close to less than 0.5%. The Dow advanced 0.3% to a fresh high.