ASX Market Close: Soft inflation brings February rate cut into play | January 8, 2025

The ASX200 closed up 0.77% at 8,349 points. Materials was the best performing sector, up 1.6%, followed by Financials, up 1.3% and Staples, up 0.8%. Information Technology stocks retreated more than 0.8%, followed by Real Estate and Telecommunication, down 0.5%.