Australia: Shares rise as Fed signals more support; iron giants boost

[BENGALURU] Australian shares rose on Thursday as the US Federal Reserve reiterated its plans to keep interest rates near-zero for as long as it takes to revive the economy, while strong performance from domestic iron ore miners also boosted stocks.

The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.7 per cent at 6,045.3 by 1.06am GMT.

Fed policymakers renewed their pledge to utilise all means at their disposal to set the virus-hit economy on the path to recovery but warned that the outlook would depend on the course the virus takes.

Australian mining index also drew support from better-than-expected earnings and production numbers from iron ore giants.

Heavyweights Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group beat expectations to post solid results as demand recovers in China for the steel-making material.

Financials also rose 1 per cent with the "Big Four" banks all trading in positive territory.

Lender Macquarie Group rose 2.4 per cent despite saying its first-quarter profit would be lower than last year and left investors in the dark with no earnings forecast for fiscal 2021.

Meanwhile, Commonwealth Bank of Australia said it would allocate US$216 million as remediation to customers affected by widespread misconduct in its aligned advice businesses.

As investors' place optimistic bets on impending results from US tech giants, Australian technology stocks followed suit to add as much as 2.5 per cent and mark their best session in more than a week.

Buy-now-pay-later firm Afterpay tacked on 2.7 per cent, while accounting software company Xero gained 1.4 per cent.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index gained 0.6 per cent to 11,663.87.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Ryman Healthcare gained 1.1 per cent and 1.5 per cent, respectively.

REUTERS