Australian shares rose for a third straight session on Thursday, helped by financials after National Australia Bank posted a jump in quarterly profit, and as technology stocks extended a rally.
The S&P/ASX 200 index advanced 0.7% to 7,315.5 by 2356 GMT, adding nearly 3% in the past three sessions and putting the benchmark on course for a second straight weekly gain.
Financials gained 0.6%, helped by a 4% jump in National Australia Bank after the country's second-biggest lender reported a 9% rise in its first-quarter profit. The other three lenders among the 'Big Four' added between 0.4% and 1.2%.
Wealth manager AMP Ltd jumped 4.7% after saying its full-year profit rose more than a half, and that it had received "enquiries" for its fund management unit AMP Capital.
Australia shares surge 1% on mining boost, Macquarie's record quarter
Technology stocks soared 3.6% after Wall Street jumped overnight on the back of gains in megacap growth names.
Block Inc's Australia-listed shares leapt more than 10%, while Computershare Ltd extended its earnings-fuelled rally to a second day, rising 3.3%. Xero and WiseTech Global ticked up about 3.1% each.
Power and gas retailer Origin Energy rose 2.4% even after flagging a non-cash impairment charge between A$190 million and A$200 million ($136.38 million and $143.56 million) from the A$2.12 billion sale of its stake in Australia Pacific LNG.
AGL Energy gained 4% after saying it had significantly progressed with plans to split into a bulk power generator and a carbon-neutral energy retailer by June 2022, and had identified 350 roles to be made redundant in the process.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.6% to 12,514.96 by 2356 GMT.
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