The Australian sharemarket was higher in the afternoon, shrugging off a lacklustre session on Wall Street, after weak retail data bolstered expectations for a rate cut from the Reserve Bank next week.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index rallied 47.7 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 8588.8 as of 2.20pm AEST on Wednesday, with nine out of the 11 sectors in the green, led by mining and real estate stocks.

Wall Street was mixed overnight as US President Donald Trump said he would not delay the July 9 deadline for imposing higher tariffs on trading partners, triggering caution across financial markets.

Even so, the ASX pushed higher after Australia retail sales data revealed a smaller-than-expected 0.2 per cent in May, in a readout that analysts said all but “locked in” a July rate cut next week.

That boosted the real estate sector, with Goodman Group and Scentre Group both rallying more than 2 per cent.

The big iron producers also advanced with a higher commodity price amid signs that Chinese manufacturing activity is recovering. BHP climbed 1.8 per cent, Fortescue 3.4 per cent, and Rio Tinto 1.8 per cent.

Elsewhere, the technology sector was also weaker, tracking US tech stocks lower. Tesla slumped 5.3 per cent after Trump threatened to withdraw subsidies from Elon Musk’s companies and review the billionaire’s immigration status.

On the ASX, Life360 fell 2.6 per cent, Xero came off 2.3 per cent, and NextDC dipped 1.9 per cent.

Stocks in focus

Qantas shares fell 2.6 per cent after the airline revealed that the personal data of more than 6 million customers had been stolen in a cyberattack believed to be part of a co-ordinated attack on airlines globally.

Helia plunged 22.1 per cent after revealing long-term customer ING Bank was negotiating a deal with alternative providers. CBA, another long-term partner, will pull the pin on its lenders’ mortgage services contract in December.

Domino’s Pizza tanked 15.6 per cent on news that chief executive Mark van Dyck will step down in December after less than one year in the role.

James Hardie rose 4.9 per cent after announcing its acquisition of US decking company Azek had been completed.

Perpetual jumped 9.5 per cent on the back of UBS upgrading its outlook for the stock to “buy” from “neutral”, with a short-term share price target of $22.50 implying underlying growth of more than 11 per cent. Fellow wealth manager Magellan also climbed 6.4 per cent after UBS retained its “buy” outlook, with a short-term share price target of $9.50 implying underlying growth of 2.5 per cent.

And Corporate Travel Management came off 2.9 per cent. Jeffries downgraded the stock to “hold” with a short-term price target of $14.20, implying a decline of 7 per cent.