By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 added 59.00 points or 0.80% to 7,471.40 during Tuesday’s mid-day deals, extending gains of 0.1% in the previous session and trading at fresh 2-month highs as optimistic investors tracked a tech-led rally on Wall Street overnight, while investors prepare for February’s retail sales print.
ASX 200 Futures were pointing 0.36% higher.
Among stocks,nformation Technology was 3.38% higher overall, as Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) rallied 7.8%, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) added 4.5%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) lifted 4.2%, Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) added 2.5%, Altium Ltd (ASX:ALU) gained 3%, Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) lifted 3.3% and Wisetech Global Ltd (ASX:WTC) added 4.5%. Zip Co Ltd (ASX:Z1P) also gained 6.8%
Materials were 0.6% lower collectively, as Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) lost 1.14%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) fell 0.73%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) lost 0.26%, Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) dipped 0.67%, Piedmont Lithium Ltd (ASX:PLL) fell 4.1% and European Lithium Ltd (ASX:EUR) dropped 3.3% while Lake Resources NL (ASX:LKE) popped 9.2% and Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) added 1.3%.
Financials gained 0.5%, as Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) added 1.4%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) lifted 0.34%, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) gained 0.92% and Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) increased 0.55%.
Meantime, Crown Ltd (ASX:CWN) has jumped 1.1% to fresh nine-month highs after potential buyer Blackstone (NYSE:BX) received Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) approvals.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were at 2.836% while United States 10-Year yields were around 2.466%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 0.47% to 11,967.