Australian shares rose on Wednesday, led by commodity stocks, supported by relief that the US Federal Reserve Chair refrained from commenting on the monetary policy outlook, while investors awaited key inflation data.
The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.4% to 7,160.80 by 2314 GMT. The benchmark finished 0.3% lower on Tuesday.
In his first public appearance of the year, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at a forum sponsored by the Swedish central bank that the Fed’s independence is essential for it to battle inflation but he did not provide more clarity on its tightening path.
The US consumer price index (CPI), due on Thursday, is expected to show December’s headline inflation at 6.5% versus 7.1% in November.
Traders are betting on a 25-basis point rate hike at the Fed’s February policy meeting. The focus is also on Australia’s CPI data for November due later in the day, after the annual rate of inflation unexpectedly slowed to 6.9% in October from a multi-year high of 7.3%.
Local miners rose 1.8% to be the top gainers on the bourse, as iron ore prices jumped after top steelmaker China said it had seen the peak of COVID-19 infections in many regions.
Heavyweights Fortescue Metals Group, BHP group and Rio Tinto gained between 1.5% and 1.9% to the resource-heavy bourse.
Strong bullion prices helped local gold stocks jump 1.6%, with both sector majors Newcrest Mining and Northern Star Resources advancing 1.2%.
Australia shares slip as miners drag; Powell’s speech in focus
Energy stocks advanced 0.4%, as oil prices edged higher. Santos and Woodside Energy gained 0.4% and 1.2%, respectively.
Tech stocks, on the other hand, fell 0.4%. Shares of accounting software provider Xero Ltd dropped 3.7%, while the ASX-listed shares of Block Inc jumped 1.8% New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was relatively unchanged at 11,664.96.
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