By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 finished Wednesday’s session 91.50 points or 1.25% higher at 7,405.40, extending gains for the fourth consecutive session as traders cheered a strong relief-rally on Wall Street overnight while higher iron ore and oil prices supported major miners and energy stocks.
Wall St futures also gained with Dow Jones 30 Futures up 0.2%, S&P 500 Futures up 0.29% and Nasdaq 100 Futures up 0.44%.
Among stocks, Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) lifted 2.45%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) gained 2.2%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) added 3.5% and Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) surged 6.33% as Iron ore prices moved 4% higher.
Banks lifted, with Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) up 0.53%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) gaining 1.31%, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) lifting 0.81% and Bank Of Queensland Ltd. (ASX:BOQ) adding 0.25%.
BNPL names soared with Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX:APT)gaining 4.46% and z1p rallying 10.9% after announcing record transaction volumes over the month of November.
Energy companies also gained on rising Crude Oil prices, with Beach Energy Ltd (ASX:BPT) up 3.69%, while Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX:WPL) added 2.46% after it said it would invest $A5 billion as part of its embrace of a low carbon future. Santos Ltd (ASX:STO) lifted 2.74% and Oil Search Ltd (ASX:OSH) gained 2.64% after their merger won the approval of Papua New Guinea’s competition regulator.
Meantime, James Hardie Industries PLC (ASX:JHX) surged 1.83% to fresh record high, while Sonic Healthcare Ltd (ASX:SHL) added 1.53%, touching record highs in intraday deals.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates lower at 1.63% while United States 10-Year yields were at 1.463%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 rallied 2.05% to 12,868.