Australian shares rose on Wednesday, tracking overnight Wall Street gains, led by local commodity stocks after the country’s top trading partner China took a measured approach in responding to the new US tariffs.
The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.5% to 8,419.6, as of 0005 GMT.
The benchmark ended 0.1% lower on Tuesday.
Overnight, the US Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.30%, the S&P 500 gained 0.72% while Nasdaq added 1.35%.
China imposed targeted tariffs on US imports and put several companies, including Google, on notice for possible sanctions, in a measured response to US President Donald Trump’s levies, which came into effect on Tuesday.
It was unclear when the leaders of the two countries would talk after Trump said he was in no hurry.
A conversation between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump is seen as key to a potential easing or delay of tariffs, just like last-minute talks resulted in one-month reprieves on levies against Canada and Mexico.
Prospects of a trade war prompted investors to flock to safe-haven gold, boosting the metal’s prices to an all-time high.
Australian shares scale new high as commodity stocks gain
The domestic gold sub-index jumped 1.3% to a more than three-month high.
The heavyweight mining index added 1.7% to hit a two-week high.
BHP Group and Rio Tinto gained 1.3% and 1.4%, respectively. Energy stocks rose 1.9%, tracking a rebound in oil prices. Sector heavyweights Woodside Energy and Santos advanced 1% and 1.7%, respectively.
Technology stocks rose 0.6% and real-estate stocks added 0.5%.
Among individual stocks, Insignia Financial jumped 6.4% and was among the top gainers on the benchmark index.
The wealth manager received an A$3.07 billion ($1.92 billion) bid from Canadian firm Brookfield, matching the latest offers from Bain Capital and CC Capital Partners.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.5% to 12,839.6.
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