By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 added 22.8 points or 0.3% to 6,851.4 after the first hour of Thursday’s trade, recovering in line with U.S. equities overnight after heavy losses in the previous session as investors looked ahead to key unemployment data.
ASX 200 Futures were trading 0.1% higher.
Among stocks, Energy led the gains, adding 3.3% with Woodside Energy Ltd (ASX:WDS) adding 3.9%, Beach Energy Ltd (ASX:BPT) up 3%, Santos Ltd (ASX:STO) adding 3% and Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX:VEA) up 1.8%.
Information Technology lifted 0.5% collectively, with Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) easing 0.8%, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) down 0.8%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) up 1.4%, Link Administration Holdings Ltd (ASX:LNK) gaining 0.6% and Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) up 0.9%.
Financials added 0.6% overall, with Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) down 0.2%, Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) up 0.7%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) adding 1%, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) up 1.9% and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) gaining 1%.
Coming up in the session, Australia’s unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 3.4%, while employment is expected to show 35K jobs added versus a loss of 40.9K in the previous month.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year yields were 3.660%, while United States 10-Year rates were at 3.412%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 fell 5.7 points or 0.1% to 11,652.3.