Australian shares hit their highest level in over five months on Wednesday, with mining and energy stocks lifting the benchmark higher, while stocks in New Zealand slid nearly 1% after a record interest rate hike.
The S&P/ASX 200 index ended 0.6% higher at 7,225.1 points, adding gains for the second straight session.
The domestic bourse saw gains from mining companies across various commodity classes, with energy stocks climbing 1.3% after industry data noted a fall in U.S. crude stockpiles, highlighting a possible supply tightness ahead.
Oil majors, Santos Ltd and Woodside Energy remained upbeat, climbing 0.6% and 1.1%, respectively.
Miners rose 1%, while, higher bullion prices supported gold stocks to lead the benchmark with a 2.1% increase.
Miners, energy stocks push Australian shares higher
“Whilst headlines focus on China’s latest bout of lockdowns, the reality is that they are not as severe since China released 20 new guidelines for easing zero-COVID on Nov. 11,” said Matthew Simpson a senior market analyst at StoneX Financial.
“Copper, gold and oil are above their weekly lows after retracing last week, and this is helping support mining stocks – but whether they can extend their rise could be tied back to the U.S. dollar and FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) minutes,” Simpson said.
Investors globally are also awaiting the minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s November policy meeting, due later in the day, to gauge the central bank’s rate-hike path.
Meanwhile across the Tasman Sea, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) delivered its biggest ever interest rate hike at 75 basis points and warned that the economy could be tipped into a recession for an entire year to tamp out inflation.
“RBNZ’s step-up in the pace of monetary policy tightening against the backdrop of weaker expectations for GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and house prices reveals a hawkish contrast with the Fed, which is likely to step down to a 50bp hiking pace in December,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.
New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.8% to 11,323.8 points.
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