Australia: Shares close higher on Fed pledge; tech stocks shine

[SYDNEY] Australian shares closed higher on Thursday as investors cheered the Federal Reserve's assertion it would use its "full range of tools" to support the virus-stricken US economy, with added lift from tech stocks ahead of a batch of key US earnings.

The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.74 per cent higher at 6,051.1, snapping two straight sessions of falls.

Fed policymakers reiterated a pledge to keep interest rates near-zero for as long as it takes to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, but warned that the "path of the economy will depend significantly on the course of the virus".

"The fact that the US Federal Reserve had some pretty dovish comments gave investors a bit of confidence that there is going to be that support, even though we continue to see large cases of Covid in Australia," said James Tao, a market analyst at Commsec.

Australia reported a record spike in fresh Covid-19 cases with at least 13 deaths and more than 700 new infections mainly in Victoria state.

"We've got US futures trading lower at the moment, so we could see US markets giving back some recent gains... it will probably lead to a softer start to Aussie shares tomorrow," Mr Tao said.

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However, he said "it was one of those situations where you can't look too far ahead with much certainty."

Most major sub-indexes closed higher, with gold stocks the sole drag after bullion prices eased.

Tech stocks led the charge with a gain of 2.4 per cent, marking their best session in more than a week, after Facebook , Apple and Alphabet's Google closed higher overnight ahead of their earnings.

Among top gainers, Afterpay Ltd and WiseTech Global rose 1.6 per cent and 5.9 per cent, respectively.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index climbed 0.8 per cent to 11,692.02, with top gainers Mainfreight and A2 Milk rising nearly 3 per cent each.

REUTERS