The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Wednesday finished up 3.7 points, or 0.04 per cent, at 8,559.2 while the broader All Ordinaries gained 5.1 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 8,779.9.
A ceasefire in the Middle East was mostly holding, with Israel's military lifting emergency restrictions imposed during the 12-day conflict while Iran's president hailed the end of the war.
Closer to home, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported Wednesday that annual trimmed mean inflation fell from 2.8 per cent in April to 2.4 per cent in May - its lowest level since November 2021.
"The better-than-expected inflation print should lock in a rate cut when the RBA next meets in July," said Ivy Yu, economic analyst for Oxford Economics Australia.
HSBC analysts concurred, changing their call to predict that the Reserve Bank would cut rates on July 8 after previously forecasting the central bank would wait until August to do so.
Seven of the ASX's 11 sectors finished lower on Wednesday, while property was flat and just three ended higher.
But among them was the heavyweight financial sector, which rose 1.2 per cent as Commonwealth Bank continued to defy gravity - as well as critics that call it overvalued.
CBA shares finished the day up 1.7 per cent at $191.40.
They have gained 24.9 per cent so far in 2025 on top of a 37.1 per cent rise in 2024, and haven't had a losing year since 2018.
Westpac rose 0.7 per cent to $34.54, NAB climbed 0.8 per cent to $40.05 and ANZ gained 1.8 per cent to $29.10.
The materials sector was the biggest mover, falling 1.3 per cent after leading gainers on Tuesday.
BHP retreated 1.0 per cent to $36.11, Fortescue lost 2.3 per cent to $14.88 and dipped 1.1 per cent 0.6 per cent to $104.30.
Also, goldminer Northern Star dropped 2.6 per cent to $19.28 as the yellow metal changed hands at $US3,331, down almost $50 from Tuesday.
Elsewhere, Droneshield soared 19.9 per cent to a one-year high of $2.14 after the defence contractor announced it had won $61.6 million from a European military customer.
The contract is Droneshield's biggest ever - greater than its entire 2024 revenue.
Xero was in a trading halt after the Kiwi cloud accounting software firm said it would hold a $1.9 billion capital raising to fund its $3.9 billion acquisition of US bill payment company Melio.
The Australian dollar was back below 65 US cents, buying 64.99 US cents, from 65.06 US cents on Tuesday.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Wednesday up 3.7 points, or 0.04 per cent, at 8,559.2
* The broader All Ordinaries rose 5.1 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 8,779.9
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 64.99 US cents, from 65.06 US cents at 5pm Tuesday
* 94.42 Japanese yen, from 94.44 Japanese yen
* 56.00 euro cents, from 56.08 euro cents
* 47.71 British pence, from 47.92 pence
* 107.87 NZ cents, from 107.96 NZ cents
