By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 finished Thursday’s trade 20.20 points or 0.28% higher at 7,288.50, extending gains for the third session as positive corporate earnings reports both locally and abroad boosted investor sentiment.
The Technology sector outperformed, lifting 2.61% and posting a strong recovery after last week’s sell-off.
Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) led the gains, up 9.71%. Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) added 3.81%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) surged 7.64%, Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) eased 0.15%, Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX:BRN) lifted 0.91%, Altium Ltd (ASX:ALU) gained 1.78%, Computershare Ltd. (ASX:CPU) added 2.75% Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) added 0.53% and Wisetech Global Ltd (ASX:WTC) gained 0.11%.
National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) gained 4.51% and boosted the Financial sector after reporting cash earnings of $1.8 billion for the quarter to December, compared with $1.65 billion a year earlier, well above Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) estimates of $1.6 billion.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) added 1.06%, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) gained 1.07%, Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) lifted 1.23%, while Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) lost 2.16%.
Meantime, Materials finished 0.66% higher with Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) up 2.09%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) easing 0.08%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) climbing 3.97%, Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) adding 0.28%, Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) lifting 1.2 % and Lake Resources NL (ASX:LKE) gaining 2.7%.
Among currencies, the Australian dollar was trading slightly lower on Thursday, down 0.05% to 0.71746 but holding near three-week highs, while the US Dollar Index was flat at 95.555.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year yields were steady at 35-month highs of 2.098% while United States 10-Year rates were near 25-month highs of 1.928%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 fell 0.17% to 12,413.