By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 added 33.1 points or 0.5% to 7,009 after the first hour of Thursday’s trade, recovering losses of 0.3% in the previous session as investors tracked a strong close on Wall Street overnight as ISM Services PMI data came in better than expected and boosted risk sentiment.
ASX 200 Futures were pointing 0.1% higher.
Among stocks, Information Technology led the gains amid increased risk appetite and lower yields. Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) popped 9.7%, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) gained 4.8%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) lifted 5.5%, Link Administration Holdings Ltd (ASX:LNK) gained 1.1% and Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) added 2.6%.
Real Estate companies lifted 1.3% collectively, with Goodman Group (ASX:GMG) up 1.5%, Mirvac Group (ASX:MGR) adding 1.5%, Charter Hall Group (ASX:CHC) up 2.6%, and Stockland Corporation Ltd (ASX:SGP) adding 0.8%.
Financials lifted 0.8% with Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) up 0.5%, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) adding 0.7%, Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) lifting 0.8%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) up 0.6% and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) gaining 1.2%.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were at 3.113% while United States 10-Year yields were at 2.712%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 0.6% to 11,773.3.