** Consumer discretionary stocks .AXDJ jump 1.3% to a record high
** Conglomorate Wesfarmers WES.AX and gaming firm Aristocrat Leisure ALL.AX among the top gainers, rising 1% and 3.5% respectively
** Stella Ong, market analyst at Superhero, says that local market, especially rate-sensitive tech and consumer sectors, is buoyed by expectations of a February rate cut
** Unanimous consensus among major banks points to surprising decrease in core inflation, potentially prompting RBA to cut borrowing costs
** Morgan Stanley forecasts an optimistic 2025 for consumers, with expected tax and rate cuts revitalizing normal spending growth
** Sub index last year gained 20.7%, outperforming the benchmark index ASX 200's .AXJO gain of 7.5%
(Reporting by Kumar Tanishk and Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru)
((Tanishk.Kumar@thomsonreuters.com;))
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