Day traders' after-market lounge July 17

Thanks afternoon crew.

End-of-day summary:

Australian shares closed at a record after rate-cut hopes fuelled the Dow's best night in more than a year.

A broad rally lifted the ASX 200 by 59 points or 0.73% to 8,057.9. Gold miners shone after the precious metal hit an all-time high. Small caps, property trusts, tech stocks and industrials were also notably strong.

The Small Ordinaries took its cues from a rapid rise in its Stateside equivalent, but still has plenty of room to play catch-up. The XSO rose 1.06% today to its strongest close since mid-April. Overnight, the Russell 2000 index of US small caps climbed 3.5% to a fifth straight gain and its highest finish since January 2022.

The Dow jumped 1.85% following a well-received trading update from UnitedHealth, and as buying interest on Wall Street continued to expand from the growth stocks that have been this year's market leaders to cyclicals and value stocks.