By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 added 1.06% to 7,172.70 in Wednesday’s trade, following losses of 0.73% in the previous session as market participants tracked a positive close for U.S. equities overnight, while travel stocks saw a boost as New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Adern announced that the country will open its borders to fully vaccinated Australians on April 12.
ASX 200 Futures were up 0.43%.
Among stocks, Technology companies saw the largest gains, up around 3% as Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) added 7.25%, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) gained 3.73%, Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) lifted 1.82% and Wisetech Global Ltd (ASX:WTC) added 3.73%.
Materials was up about 0.5% as Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) added 0.63%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) eased 0.26%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) added 1.46%, Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) gained 2.72%, Lake Resources NL (ASX:LKE) added 7.08% and South32 Ltd (ASX:S32) added 0.86%,
Financials gained around 0.95% as Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) added 1%, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) lifted 1.39%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) gained 0.2%, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) added 0.36% and Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) gained 0.62%.
Travel-related also saw solid gains amid cooling Crude Oil prices and easing travel restrictions. Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX:QAN) added 2.63%, Flight Centre Ltd (ASX:FLT) gained 2.13%, Webjet Ltd (ASX:WEB) gained 2.73%, Helloworld Ltd (ASX:HLO) added 4.31% and Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX:CTD) added 5.54%.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year yields were slightly off fresh 39-month highs at 2.486% while United States 10-Year rates were at 2.149%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50added 0.61% to 11,879.