Australia: Shares close at record highs on miners boost

[SYDNEY] Australian stocks closed at a record high on Wednesday, boosted by miners after iron ore prices rose, while shares of Afterpay paused after a two-day run of stellar gains.

The S&P/ASX 200 index ended up 0.4 per cent at 7,503.2, with miners adding 1.3 per cent as supply concerns lifted iron ore prices.

Rio Tinto, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals Group climbed between 1.6 per cent and 2.7 per cent.

"Miners and energy stocks are moving on reflation, with BHP alone pushing the market up many points," Mathan Somasundaram, CEO at Deep Data Analytics, said, adding that the market was ignoring lockdowns and assuming more handouts by the government.

Afterpay fell 0.9 per cent, snapping a two-day strong rally that saw it add about 33 per cent after it backed a US$29 billion buyout by Jack Dorsey's payments company Square.

Its smaller buy now, pay later peers also ended mixed, with Zip Co down 0.6 per cent and Sezzle up 1.4 per cent. Some analysts expect the Afterpay deal to lead to consolidation in the sector.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.8 per cent to 12,797.29, with top performer a2 Milk Co up 1.9 per cent.

The country posted a strong jobs data for the second quarter, raising bets that monetary policy may be tightened this month.

Air New Zealand also said its fiscal 2022 loss would be bigger than earlier expected due to suspension of a quarantine-free travel arrangement with Australia.

REUTERS