By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 gained 65.5 points or 1% to 6,889.7 on Thursday, extending gains of 0.3% in the previous session and closing at 6-week highs as market participants tracked a strong overnight rally on Wall Street after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates 75 basis points.
Among stocks, Materials led the gains, lifting 2.4% as Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) added 0.7% , BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) gained 2.1%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) lifted 2.9% and Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) fell 1.2%.
Information Technology gained 0.7% overall as Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) added 4.5%, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) lifted 0.2%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) gained 9.2%, Link Administration Holdings Ltd (ASX:LNK) eased 0.2%, Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) surged 13.6% and Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX:BRN) gained 0.8%.
Financials gained 0.8% as Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) lifted 3%, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) eased 0.1%, Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) gained 1%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) lifted 0.7% and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) added 0.1%.
In addition, Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP) extended its recent rally, surging 22.6%.
On the data front, Retail sales rose by 0.2% month-over-month to a fresh record in June, but falling short of analyst estimates of a 0.5% increase and posting the softest rise in retail trade since December 2021.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were 3.222% while United States 10-Year yields were at 2.799%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 1.7% to 11,328.2.