Financials (up 0.4 per cent), consumer staples (up 0.3 per cent) and energy companies (up 0.2 per cent) were stronger, with Woodside and Santos both gaining 0.5 per cent, supermarket giants Woolworths (up 0.4 per cent) and Coles (up 0.1 per cent) edging up and all four big banks trading in the green.

Healthcare companies Fisher and Paykel (up 4.5 per cent) and EBOS Group (up 1.6 per cent) were among the biggest large-cap advancers, along with Meridian Energy (up 2.4 per cent).

The laggards

Despite Meridian Energy’s strong performance, utilities (down 0.6 per cent) were the weakest sector on the local bourse, with Origin Energy losing 0.6 per cent and APA Group shedding 0.7 per cent.

Industrials (down 0.6 per cent) were also weaker, dragged down by shares in Cleanaway Waste Management (down 11.1 per cent), which plunged after a strong rally in the past week amid reports Seven Group Holdings is exploring an acquisition of the company.

A spokesperson for Seven Group said in an emailed statement the company isn’t looking to acquire Cleanaway, focused instead on completing its purchase of construction materials company Boral.

Cleanaway stated this morning it wasn’t in any discussions with Seven Group “in relation to any form of corporate transaction or otherwise, nor has it received an approach or offer from SGH.”

JB Hi-Fi (down 1.8 per cent), pallet maker Brambles (down 1.6 per cent) and Amcor (down 1.6 per cent) were also among the biggest large-cap decliners. Mining heavyweights Rio Tinto (down 0.2 per cent) and BHP (down 0.6 per cent) also weighed the Australian sharemarket as the price of iron ore declined overnight.

Shares in Perpetual dropped 3.5 per cent after the fund manager reported a “disappointing” $5.2 billion in net outflows during the latest quarter, even as its total assets under management rose, helped by strong market conditions.

The lowdown

MLC Asset Management portfolio manager Anthony Golowenko said the Australian sharemarket was rebasing to a higher point after a torrid fortnight of trading, but the latest inflation figures weighed on the local market on Wednesday.

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“The ASX is getting over the worries over Middle East tensions last week and adjusting to the narrative of higher for longer interest rates,” he said.

“The inflation numbers are just a continuation of the slower march lower, especially for services inflation, but there’s also been a continuing unwind of great expectations and rapid fire rate cuts.”

On Wall Street, the “Magnificent Seven” cohort of megacaps rose, extending a rebound after a selloff that sent the market to its worst week in over a year. Tesla soared after the electric car giant led by Elon Musk said it would accelerate the launch of more affordable models after reporting worse-than-expected profits.

US Treasuries briefly extended their advance after a solid $US69 billion ($106 billion) sale of two-year notes — but quickly returned to levels seen ahead of the auction — with 10-year yields little changed.

The S&P 500 gained 1.2 per cent to close at 5070.55 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7 per cent, and Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.6 per cent.

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After notching several record highs this year, the US sharemarket lost traction in April amid signals the Federal Reserve will hold rates higher for longer.

Tesla closed 1.8 per cent higher and then saw its stock soar almost 14 per cent in after-hours trading after saying it had pulled forward the launch of new models to “prudently grow our vehicle volumes in a more capex efficient manner during uncertain times”.

The carmaker posted revenue of $US21.3 billion for the three months that ended in March, compared with $US23.3 billion a year earlier.

Meanwhile, Nvidia, the poster child of the artificial intelligence boom, led a surge in chipmakers with a 3.7 per cent gain. United Parcel Service — seen as a barometer for the world’s largest economy — reported profit that beat estimates and rose 2.4 per cent.

After Tesla, Microsoft, Facebook owner Meta Platforms and Google’s parent Alphabet are also due to report earnings this week. And the stakes are high.

Profits for the “Magnificent Seven” group — which also includes Apple, Amazon.com and Nvidia — are forecast to rise 38 per cent in the first quarter from a year ago, according to Bloomberg Intelligence data.

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