By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 added 80.10 points or 1.12% to 7,255.30 during Thursday’s deals, extending gains of 1.1% in the previous session after The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark short-term interest rate and signaled up to six additional rate hikes this year in an effort to tame the worst inflation since the early 1980s,
ASX 200 Futures were up 0.16%.
Among stocks, Technology companies continued to surge, up 4.3% with Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) rallying 11.37%, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) up 5.56%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) adding 5.6%, Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) gaining 5.24%, Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX:BRN) adding 9.14%, Altium Ltd (ASX:ALU) up 3.65%, Wisetech Global Ltd (ASX:WTC) adding 5.64% and Technology One Ltd (ASX:TNE) up 2.55%.
S&P/ASX 200 Materials were up 1.35% collectively, with Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) adding 1.84%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) up 1.15%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) lifting 4.71%, Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) adding 4.23%, Lake Resources NL (ASX:LKE) gaining 8.61%, Avz Minerals Ltd (ASX:AVZ) adding 4.27% and Piedmont Lithium Ltd (ASX:PLL) up 9.3%.
Financials also lifted 1.37% overall, with Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) up 1.91%, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) adding 2.1%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) up 1.37%, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) lifting 0.63% and Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) gaining 0.88%.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates held near 39-month peaks of 2.524% while United States 10-Year rates were at 34-month highs 2.167%.
On the data front, Australia added 77.4K jobs in March, while the unemployment rate ticked down to 14-year lows of 4%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 1.21% to 12,044.