By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 added 6.80 points or 0.10% to 6,766.00 after the first hour of Thursday’s trade, easing slightly from a 1.7% rally in the previous session as investors monitor fresh Q2 corporate earnings reports from both local and U.S. companies.
ASX 200 Futures were pointing 0.3% higher.
Among stocks, Information Technology led the gains, with Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) up 7.5%, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) adding 1.3%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) up 1.6%, Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) gaining 9% and Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX:BRN) up 4.9%.
Health Care added 1%, with Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:TLX) shares up 12.6% after reporting Q2 sales. Sonic Healthcare Ltd (ASX:SHL) added 2%, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Ltd (ASX:FPH) gained 1.7% and Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX:PME) lifted 2.2%.
Energy was down 1.3% with Woodside Energy Ltd (ASX:WDS) falling 2.3%, Beach Energy Ltd (ASX:BPT) up 2.6% and Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX:VEA) down 0.4%. Santos Ltd (ASX:STO) fell 0.3% after reporting a 74% increase in second-quarter revenue as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sparked global energy supply concerns.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were at 3.585% while United States 10-Year yields were at 3.019%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 0.7% to 11,271.5.