Australia: Miners and banks push shares higher

[BENGALURU] Australian shares were buoyed on Thursday by the mining, banking and technology sectors, although losses in energy stocks following an overnight drop in crude prices capped the gains.

The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.5 per cent to 7,033.2 by 0045 GMT, after shedding about 1 per cent in the previous two sessions.

Among other markets, Japan's Nikkei rose 1.17 per cent. S&P 500 E-minis futures were down 0.25 per cent, while all three major US indexes finished higher overnight.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.2 per cent, outshining the S&P 500 in percentage gain shortly before the closing bell.

In Australia, the top gainers were royalty investment firm Deterra Royalties, up 6.34 per cent, and nickel-gold miner IGO , which rose about 3 per cent.

Technology stocks were the top percentage gainers, advancing as much as 1.1 per cent. Data analytics firm Nuix added 1.9 per cent, while Megaport gained 1.3 per cent.

Financials rose 0.6 per cent, with all the Big Four lenders advancing between 0.4 per cent and 0.8 per cent.

Miners were up 0.7 per cent, helped by BHP Group and Rio Tinto, which added about 0.9 per cent each.

Energy stocks declined about 2 per cent, with Oil Search and Woodside Petroleum shedding about 2.5 per cent each, as oil prices fell to their lowest in a week overnight.

Australia's top independent gas producer, Woodside, saw its March-quarter production dip slightly from a year earlier, even as an 8 per cent rise in sales volume led to a jump in sales revenue.

Meanwhile, AGL Energy hit record low after its chief executive officer resigned just less than a month after the power producer announced its plans to split its businesses into two.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.36 per cent to 12,579.9, rebounding from two consecutive days of losses.

The top percentage gainers were Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Synlait Milk, up as much as 2 per cent each.

REUTERS