Day traders' after-market lounge May 16

Thanks afternoon crew.

End-of-day summary:

The share market closed within 30 points of a record after Wall Street hit fresh heights and a jump in unemployment revived hopes of interest rate cuts this year.

The ASX 200 rallied 128 points or 1.65% to 7881.3. The index's all-time high was 7910.5 on April 2.

The market opened strongly after Wall Street surged on news that inflation resumed its downtrend last month. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite all closed at records as the odds firmed on a September rate cut.

The Australian rally gained fresh strength mid-morning after April data showed the unemployment rate unexpectedly accelerated to 4.1% from a revised 3.9% in March as an increase in participation offset job gains of 38,000.

The rate-sensitive property sector soared 3.5%. Tech and consumer stocks gained more than 2.4%. Energy was the day's only laggard, easing 0.3%.