Australia: Shares track Wall Street higher, Telstra jumps on stake-sale plans

[BENGALURU] Australian shares climbed nearly 1 per cent on Wednesday, tracking a strong overnight finish in Wall Street, while Telstra scaled a 16-1/2-month high on plans to sell nearly half of its mobile tower business for A$2.8 billion (S$2.82 billion).

The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.9 per cent at 7,366.4. The benchmark closed flat on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei was up 0.24 per cent and S&P 500 E-minis futures were up 0.12 per cent.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq registered record closing highs overnight, lifted by Apple Inc and other technology stocks after an upbeat consumer confidence report.

The Australian miners sub-index gained as much as 1.9 per cent to hit its highest since June 16, making it the top performer on the benchmark.

Rio Tinto said it had declared a force majeure on customer contracts at its Richards Bay Minerals project in South Africa, citing "an escalation in the security situation at the operations."

Shares of the global miner, however, rose more than 2 per cent to hit a three-week high.

AGL Energy expects to split into a bulk power generator and a carbon-neutral energy retailer by June 2022 and would stop paying special dividends. The announcement sent AGL shares down 4.4 per cent to their lowest since June 4.

Shares of Telstra Corp rose up to 5 per cent, their highest since Feb 13, 2020, after the country's biggest telecom firm said it would sell a 49 per cent stake in its mobile tower business and return half the sale proceeds to shareholders.

The heavyweight financial index gained 0.8 per cent, with National Australia Bank and Westpac Banking Corp adding 0.9 per cent and 0.7 per cent, respectively.

Macquarie-backed Nuix was the top loser on the benchmark after the software company disclosed it was likely under investigation.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.2 per cent to 12,662.54.

REUTERS