Australia: Shares open higher boosted by tech shares, NZ rises

[BENGALURU] Australian shares rose 1 per cent on Thursday boosted by a rally in technology stocks, which tracked their US counterparts, and as the country's second most populous state of Victoria reported fewer coronavirus cases.

The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 1.1 per cent to 5,941.9 by 0030 GMT, recouping from a 2.2 per cent drop on Wednesday.

Wall Street indexes snapped a three-session losing streak overnight as investors jumped back on the technology bandwagon, a day after the tech-heavy Nasdaq confirmed correction territory.

That helped boost local tech stocks which jumped as much as 3.4 per cent to mark their best intraday rise since Aug 25.

Buy now pay later firm Afterpay rose 4.8 per cent and freight software company WiseTech Global gained 2.8 per cent and were among the biggest boosts to the sector.

Adding to the upbeat mood, the coronavirus hot spot state of Victoria reported 51 new infections on Thursday, compared with 76 cases a day earlier.

The state has brought down its daily rise in cases to double digits in recent days due to a strict lockdown after it touched highs of more than 700 in early August.

Miners were the biggest boost to the benchmark, rising 1.8 per cent on the back of global miners like BHP Group and Rio Tinto which advanced up to 1.6 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively.

Healthcare stocks added up to 1.7 per cent, after losing 2 per cent the day before, as hopes of getting a coronavirus vaccine by early next year remained despite a pause in British drugmaker AstraZeneca's potential vaccine trials.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index advanced 1.2 per cent to 11,880.92 and is on track for its biggest intraday percentage rise since Sept. 3.

Blue chip firms were among the top gainers, with a2 Milk Co adding 2.2 per cent and electricity generator Meridian Energy rising 1.9 per cent.

REUTERS