Australian shares ended higher on Thursday, as investors cheered signs of possible progress towards a US-China trade deal, with miners and energy stocks leading the comeback. The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.7 percent higher at 6,176.1. The benchmark eked out a meagre 0.1 percent gain on Wednesday.
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index ended the session at yet another record high, rising about 0.7 percent to 9,766.19.
The benchmark soared on Wednesday after the country's central bank stunned investors by raising the prospect of a rate cut as its next move.
Air New Zealand Ltd, which added about 2 percent, said it was launching a two-year cost reduction plan and deferred aircraft capital expenditures of about NZ$750 million ($509.78 mln) as part of a business review. Reuters reported on Thursday that the United States and China have made progress in all areas under discussion in trade talks, with movement on the touchy issue of forced technology transfers.
The Australian benchmark was boosted by major iron ore miners Rio Tinto and BHP Group, which gained about 1 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.
Iron ore prices have risen significantly as a result of lower supply, driven in large part by production issues at Brazil's Vale. Vale on Wednesday announced a series of writedowns and provisions related to the Brumadinho tailings dam collapse that killed some 300 people two months ago. However, the miner did not provide production guidance, read by many in the market as a sign it is still some way from recovering from the disruptions.
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