By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 added 27.2 points or 0.4% to 7,495.5 after the first 90 minutes of Friday’s trade, recouping losses of 0.3% in the previous session as investors returned to trade after a public holiday yesterday, tracking gains in U.S. equities overnight ahead of upcoming PPI data.
ASX 200 Futures were pointing 0.3% lower.
Among stocks, Information Technology led the gains, lifting 1.8% as Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) gained 1.2%, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) lifted 0.8%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) gained 3.8% and Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) added 3.6%.
Materials sector lifted following a solid production update from major miner Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG), which added 1.3%, while Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) added 0.9%, BHP Group Ltd (ASX:BHP) gained 1.2% and Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) added 1.4%.
Financials gained 0.7% as Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) gained 0.7%, ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX:ANZ) lifted 0.8%, Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) added 0.6%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) gained 0.8% and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) lifted 0.6%.
Coming up in the session, traders will be monitoring fresh producer price index data to gauge inflation pressures following a higher than expected CPI reading earlier in the week.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were at 3.566% while United States 10-Year yields were at 3.506%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 0.3% to 12,053.2.