Australia: Banks, tech push shares higher; Appen soars on buyout offer

AUSTRALIAN shares inched higher on Thursday, helped by gains in banking and tech stocks, while artificial intelligence company Appen soared after saying it had received a buyout offer from Canada’s Telus International. The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.1 per cent to 7,161.00 by 0047 GMT after a 0.4 per cent gain on Wednesday, also tracking strength in global equities after minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s early May meeting showed a strong likelihood of two more half-percentage-point rate hikes in coming months. Among other key markets, Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.7 per cent to 26,853.13 and S&P 500 E-minis futures were up 0.3 per cent.. In Australia, financials advanced 0.6 per cent in their third straight session of gains and hit a one-week high. The “Big Four” banks rose between 0.6 per cent and 1.1 per cect. Westpac Banking Corp gained 1.2 per cent after saying it would merge its personal and corporate pension funds, BT, with the Mercer Super Trust, another pension fund. Technology stocks rose 2.4 per cent, with Block’s ASX-listed shares, Computershare and WiseTech Global gaining between 1.8 per cent and 3.2 per cent. Appen soared 30 per cent to top the benchmark stock index after it said had received a A$1.17 billion (S$1.14 million) non-binding buyout offer from Canadian business process outsourcing firm Telus International. On the downside, energy stocks dropped 0.4 per cent to hit a two-week low despite firm crude oil prices. Oil and gas majors Woodside Energy Group and Santos fell 0.4 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively. New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.3 per cent to 11,204.80. Fonterra Co-Operative Group dropped as much as 0.9 per cent and was set for a third straight session of losses, as the dairy firm said it expected to pay lower prices for milk to its farmers next year. REUTERS