Australia: Mining stocks, Woodside drive shares higher

[BENGALURU] Australian shares rose on Thursday, helped by gains in heavyweight mining stocks after steel prices jumped, while a jump in Woodside Petroleum shares after a bumper earnings report also supported the benchmark.

Still, most other sectors stayed in the red, hit by fears of rising geopolitical tensions on reports that Russia was increasing its military build-up at the Ukrainian border.

The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.4 per cent to 7,316.3, as of 2355 GMT. The benchmark rose 1.1 per cent on Wednesday.

Shares of Woodside Petroleum jumped to their highest in two years, after the oil and gas explorer said its annual profit more than tripled as the global economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic sparked a surge in prices of oil and gas.

On the downside, shares in Origin Energy, one of the biggest losers, weighed on the benchmark with a near 5 per cent fall after it announced plans to shut the country's biggest coal-fired power plant in 2025, seven years earlier than scheduled.

Retail conglomerate Wesfarmers lost more than 4 per cent after Covid-19 curbs and supply chain disruptions caused its first-half profit to dive.

Among sub-indexes, mining stocks were the top gainers, rising up to 1.3 per cent. They were tracking Chinese stainless steel futures, which jumped to their highest in more than three months on Wednesday, boosted by high input costs and demand optimism.

BHP Group and Rio Tinto each added nearly 2 per cent.

All other sub-indexes were flat or lower. Tech stocks slumped as much as 2.2 per cent, with Wisetech Global down almost 1 per cent.

In New Zealand, the benchmark rose 0.5 prt cent to 12,181.71 points by 2355 GMT. AFP