Australia: Miners drive shares to week high

[BENGALURU] Australian shares were set on Friday for their first weekly gain in five as markets rose further to hit a one-week high, led by heavyweight miners on the back of strong commodity prices.

The benchmark ASX 200 index was up 0.5 per cent at 7,294.8 by 2348 GMT, after rising as much as 0.9 per cent earlier in the session. For the week, it has gained more than 1 per cent

Miners jumped 1.7 per cent to hit a 1-1/2-week high, after copper prices rose on Thursday due to buying ahead of China's reopening after a week-long holiday and on easing debt ceiling concerns in the United States.

Chalice Mining and IGO were the top gainers, rising 3.6 per cent and 3.2 per cent respectively, while global miners BHP Group advanced 3.6 per cent and Rio Tinto climbed 2.4 per cent.

Meanwhile, Wall Street closed sharply higher on Thursday after the Senate took a step toward passing a US$480 billion increase in Treasury Department borrowing authority.

Australian technology stocks climbed 1.4 per cent and were on track for a third consecutive session of rise, tracking overnight gains in big tech stocks on Wall Street.

Buy-now-pay-later giant Afterpay added 2.6 per cent, while Megaport gained 2.07 per cent.

Banks climbed 0.6 per cent, led by Janus Henderson Group PLC, up 3.54 per cent, and AUB Group, up 3.26 per cent.

Energy stocks rose as much as 1.1 per cent after oil futures rebounded on Thursday. Santos was up 1.2 per cent, while Ampol gained 0.9 per cent. Heavyweights Beach Energy and Santos rose 1.2 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively.

Woolworths Group, Australia's biggest grocery chain, provisionally settled a class action lawsuit filed against it by a Canberra law firm in 2019 for underpaying supermarket workers.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index gained 0.2 per cent to 13,151.2. Elsewhere, S&P 500 E-minis futures were up 0.14 per cent.

REUTERS