By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 added 48.60 points or 0.66% to 7,362.50 in Wednesday’s morning deals, extending gains of 0.9% in the previous session as market participants tracked a positive close on Wall Street overnight amid abating fears around the fresh coronavirus Omicron variant, while gains in major mining companies were supported by rising Iron ore prices.
However, ASX 200 Futures were pointing 0.2% lower.
Among stocks, heavyweight miners gained, with Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) up 2%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) adding 1.85% and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) lifting 2.93%, while Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) surged 5.36%.
Technology stocks were mostly higher, with Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) gaining 2.14%, Wisetech Global Ltd (ASX:WTC) lifting 3.45% and Nextdc Ltd (ASX:NXT) up 2.01%, while Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) and Technology One Ltd (ASX:TNE) fell 0.16% and 0.49% respectively.
BNPL names also soared with Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX:APT) gaining 3.52% and Zip Co Ltd (ASX:Z1P) rallying 10.06% after announcing record transaction volumes over the month of November.
Major financial stocks were mostly lower as Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) dipped 0.46%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) fell 0.53%, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) lost 0.19% and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) dipped 0.73%.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates lower at 1.67% while United States 10-Year yields were at 1.46%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 rallied 1.26% to 12,768.