Australia shares track Wall Street higher, miners boost
- The retail sub-index also gained 0.5%, with A2 Milk rising 1.7%
Australian shares rose on Wednesday, following Wall Street's upbeat session overnight, as local miners gained on higher iron ore prices.
The S&P/ASX 200 index rose nearly 0.4% to 7,503.9 points.
Elsewhere, Nikkei was down 0.36% and S&P 500 E-minis futures slipped 0.18%. The S&P 500 index closed at record high on Tuesday on gains in Apple Inc and healthcare stocks.
Australia's miners rose 1.6% to lead gains on the benchmark index, as iron ore prices jumped 2% on hopes of strong demand.
Leading gains, Pilbara Minerals Ltd rose 4.1%, followed by Mineral Resources Ltd, which climbed 3.5?%.
The country's major miners, BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals, rose between 1% and 2%.
Aussie energy firms followed with a 0.75% gain, led by Whitehaven Coal Ltd, up 2.8%, and Energy Ltd , which rose 1?%.
Putting a damper on sentiment was a warning by authorities that a lockdown in state capital Brisbane might be extended beyond Sunday if people flout the tough restrictions, after a further rise in COVID-19 cases in Queensland state on Wednesday.
Financial stocks rose 0.5% with Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group , National Australia Bank and Westpac Banking Corp rising between 0.3% and 0.7%.
The retail sub-index also gained 0.5%, with A2 Milk rising 1.7%.
Jefferies said it expected the country's retailers to report robust annual results on strong demand and raised its PT on a number of firms, including Woolworths and Coles Group.
On the other hand, tech stocks dipped 0.13% after a two-day rally that saw the sub-index gain about 11%. Buy-now-pay-later juggernaut Afterpay rose nearly 1%.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index gained 0.3% at 12,738.3.
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