MELBOURNE: Australian shares rose 0.4 percent on Thursday, extending a 5-1/2 month closing high hit the session before, as energy firms Woodside Petroleum and Santos as well as miner Fortescue Metals gained after production updates.
In mixed trade, gold producer Newcrest Mining, QBE Insurance and Telstra Corp all fell, limiting the market's overall progress.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 14 points at 4,362.7 by 0232 GMT. It rose 1.4 percent to its highest close since Oct. 28 on Wednesday.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 0.1 percent to 3,519.5 points.
Investors grew cautious as Spain faces an auction of two- and 10-year bonds later on Thursday. Its 10-year government bond yield shot above 6 percent earlier this week, raising fears that the country would have to turn to a debt bailout.
"I would expect a narrow range in today's trading because traders will have a 'wait and see' approach ahead of tonight's Spanish 10-year bond auction," said Miguel Audencial, a trader at CMC Markets.
"The result will give a good indication on how the market will perform in the next few days. There is potentially good upside if yields are low. However if Spain's cost of debt breaches the 6 percent barrier, expect a sell-off in equities and commodity instruments and a shift to the safe haven of US and German Treasuries to emerge," he said.
STOCKS ON THE MOVE:
Telstra Corp slipped 0.7 percent to A$3.335 after the telco doused expectations of a share buyback.
Santos Ltd added 1.4 percent to A$14.19 after Australia's second-largest oil and gas company boosted first-quarter production by 13 percent.
Woodside Petroleum rose 1.3 percent to A$34.99 after it said quarterly sales revenues were up 20 percent from a year earlier.
Fortescue Metals Group Ltd rose 1.1 percent to A$6 after it said cyclones and heavy rains cut its iron ore shipments by 16 percent in the March quarter but it stuck with near- and longer-term production guidance.
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