By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 added 63.1 points or 0.9% to 7,175.6 after the first hour of Wednesday’s trade, extending gains for the third consecutive session as investors tracked a strong rebound among major U.S. benchmark indices overnight.
ASX 200 Futures were pointing 0.1% lower.
Among stocks, Materials posted the largest gains, up 2.4% collectively as Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) added 2%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) gained 3%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) lifted 1% and Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) added 4%.
Technology was 0.7% higher overall as Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) gained 3.1%, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) added 1.9%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) lifted 6.1%, Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) gained 1.3% and Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX:BRN) added 5.3%.
Real estate companies also gained 1% overall with Goodman Group (ASX:GMG) up 1.3%, Mirvac Group (ASX:MGR) adding 2.1%, Charter Hall Group (ASX:CHC) lifting 2.1% and Stockland Corporation Ltd (ASX:SGP) up 0.8%.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were nearing fresh 8-year highs of 3.474% while United States 10-Year yields were at 2.988%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 0.7% to 11,216.