The Australian share market has closed higher after being galvanised by strong leads from overseas markets.
After Chinese stocks fell more than eight per cent early in the week, Shanghai has continued to rebound, while Wall Street snapped a five-day losing streak on Tuesday.
Phillip Capital senior client advisor Michael Heffernan said the ASX was given a push into positive territory by gains on key offshore markets, with investors recognising good value across a number of local shares.
“Certainly, the leads from overseas put us on the front foot to start off with,” he said.
As well as being a good day for the big miners, biotech CSL, which this week showed promising results for its latest treatment for haemophilia, continued to impress, said Mr Heffernan.
“CSL is threatening to go past one hundred dollars a share in the very near future.
“The ASX showed all the ingredients for a pretty robust market today.”
Mr Heffernan said all eyes would turn to the US Federal Reserve, which was meeting overnight Australian time to discuss interest rates.
“I think the (US) central bank is going to strongly signal that they’ll increase rates at their next meeting and this will be the next big driver on the ASX.”
In the mining sector, BHP Billiton rose 52 cents to $25.89, Rio Tinto added 50 cents at $51.78 and Fortescue Metals Group rose 13 cents to $1.88.
Oil producer Beach Energy grew one cent to 92 cents as the company revealed it had increased fourth quarter production by eight per cent and boosted sales due to increased demand.
The big four banks all ended higher, with Commonwealth Bank up 25 cents at $86.60, ANZ up three cents to $32.25,. NAB rising 31 cents at $34.17 and Westpac up 19 cents to $34.40.
Telstra rose two cents to $6.41 on the news it will beef up its TV offering with a new service that bundles streaming services from Netflix, Stan and Presto.
KEY FACTS
* On Wednesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 39.5 points, or 0.71 per cent, at 5,624.2.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 38.6 points, or 0.69 per cent, at 5,609.6.
* The September share price index futures contract was 29 points higher at 5,571 at 1616 AEST, with 23,921 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 1.8 billion securities worth $4.88 billion.
