By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 added 27.90 points or 0.37% to 7,542.40 in Thursday’s midday deals, rallying for the 8th consecutive session and trading near 2-month highs amid strong gains in Materials companies while Information Technology fell.
ASX 200 Futures were pointing 0.3% higher.
Among stocks, firming iron ore prices helped buoy miners, as Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) added 2.3%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) gained 3.1%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) added 5%, while Arizona Lithium Ltd (ASX:AZL) gained 6.7%.
Financials were 0.2% collectively amid easing bond yields. Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) fell 0.5%, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) lost 0.4% and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) dipped 0.3%.
Technology heavyweights fell 1.8% overall with Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) down 4.5%, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) falling 3.4% and Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) down 3.2%, while Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) bucked the trend, lifting 5.3%.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were at 2.789% while United States 10-Year yields were at 2.336%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 was down 0.4% to 12,054.