Australian Shares Rebound on Tech Boost Amid Rate Hike Fears

Australia's share market bounced back on Friday, driven by gains in financials and technology stocks. The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.3% to 9,068.90 points.

Investors seemed to shrug off concerns that interest rates could stay higher for longer, fueled by hotter-than-expected inflation data and growing expectations of a rate hike as soon as next month. Markets now price in over a 50% chance of a September rate hike by the Reserve Bank of Australia.

The 'big four' banks gained between 0.5% and 0.8%, while technology stocks rose as much as 5.2%. This mirrored gains in US counterparts, with Nvidia's bumper revenue forecast reaffirming the strength of the AI boom.