By Soumyajit Saha
July 3 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose on Friday, on track for a fourth straight session of gains, after a record surge in U.S. payrolls for June raised hopes that a recovery from the coronavirus-led economic downturn was underway.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO rose 1.05% to 6,096 points in early trade.
The benchmark index also looked set to rise nearly 3% for the week, benefiting from hopes of further stimulus measures, optimistic data that showed factory activity rebound in the United States and China, and encouraging results from a COVID-19 vaccine trial.
Overnight, the three major U.S. indexes gained between 0.4% and 0.5% as U.S. nonfarm payrolls jumped by a record 4.8 million in June. .N
Down under, the energy subindex .AXEJ was up 1.4% as oil prices rose on strong U.S. jobs data and a drawdown in crude inventories. O/R
Financial stocks .AXFJ rose nearly 1%, with all of the 'big four' banks trading higher.
The gold subindex .AXGD rose 0.88%, led by Silver Lake Resources Ltd SLR.AX , as prices of the safe-haven metal rose overnight despite a rise in risk sentiment. GOL/
Healthcare stocks .AXHJ were up 1.4%, with heavyweight CSL Ltd CSL.AX gaining 1.6%.
Industrial stocks .AXNJ were 1.2% higher, and the
technology subindex .AXIJ advanced 1.6%.
Buy-now-pay-later firm Afterpay APT.AX hit a record high as RBC Capital Markets more than doubled the price target on the company's stock and joined Citi in talking up its prospects. Austal Ltd ASB.AX was among the top gainers on the benchmark after brokerage Citi said the U.S. Navy's likely increase of focus on smaller autonomous ships would benefit the company. number of issues on the ASX that advanced were 776, while 248 declined.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.91%, helped by industrial stocks like Auckland International Airport Ltd AIA.NZ rising 3.8%.