Australia: Shares rise on energy, tech boost; New Zealand ekes out gains
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[BENGALURU] Australian shares rose on Wednesday, lifted by energy stocks on surging oil prices and strong gains in the tech sector, even as the global sentiment remained weak amid a Russian oil imports ban announced by the United States.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.2 per cent at 6,997.60 by 2326 GMT, with gains seen across most sectors. The benchmark index, which closed 0.8 per cent lower on Tuesday, was also set to snap a three-day losing streak.
The tech index led the advance with its 1.7 per cent jump, despite the Nasdaq Composite shedding 0.3 per cent in a rocky Wall Street session overnight.
Australian shares of Life360 Inc gained the most, up 4.1 per cent, followed by ASX-listed shares of Block, advancing 3.9 per cent.
Energy players rebounded from the previous day's losses to rise 1.7 per cent. Paladin Energy added the most with a 8.6 per cent gain, followed by a 2.7 per cent jump in shares of Beach Energy.
Gold stocks also climbed, up 1.3 per cent, on demand for the safe-haven bullion due to mounting fears around the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
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Gold Road Resources and Resolute Mining rose over 5 per cent.
Financials were 0.6 per cent higher, with major banks gaining between 0.1 per cent and 0.4 per cent.
Gambling machine maker Aristocrat Leisure was among the top gainers on the benchmark after suspending mobile gaming operations in Russia while saying it does not expect the move to materially impact its earnings.
Santos said it started early engineering and design works for its Bayu-Undan carbon capture and storage (CCS) project. Santos' shares were trading 1.5 per cent higher.
Separately, Australia's central bank head warned on Wednesday the war in Ukraine was a new inflationary shock to the world economy but Australia still had time to assess the impact before likely raising interest rates later in the year.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 pared some of its early gains to rise 0.1 per cent at 11,760.11. The index was still in the correction territory, down 10.9 per cent from the recent Jan 6 peak. REUTERS
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