The Australian share market has rebounded, after a mixed day on Wall Street following the announcement that US interest rates would remain near zero.
In early trading, the benchmark ASX 200 was up almost half a per cent to 7,411, with similar gains on the broader All Ordinaries, up 7,685.
Best performing stocks were tech company Ires (+14.5pc), neo-landing platform WISR (+9pc) and Strike Energy (+7.6pc).
Losing the most ground were biopharmaceutical company Imugene (-9pc), tech business Ponterra (-8.4pc) and AVZ Minerals. (-7.1pc).
The Australian dollar was down 0.1 per cent at 73.67 US cents.
The materials sector was leading the gains on the ASX.
Rio Tinto was up 3 per cent after announcing bumper profits on Wednesday off the back of soaring iron ore prices, BHP rose 2.3 per cent and Fortescue Metals gained 2.2 per cent.
Record iron ore exports for Fortescue
Fortescue Metals has posted record iron ore shipments of 49.3 million tonnes for the quarter, compared with 47.3 million tonnes a year ago.
The high demand for iron ore in countries like China resulted in a record average revenue of $US169 a dry tonne for the quarter.
The world's fourth largest iron ore miner had $US6.9 billion of cash in the bank and net cash of $US2.7 billion at June 30, 2021, with a net debt of $US1.0 billion at March 31, 2021.
Tech stocks up after strong earnings results
On Wall Street overnight the tech-heavy Nasdaq was the only US index to end trading higher, up 0.7 per cent to 14,762.
The benchmark S&P 500 finished almost flat at 4,400, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.4 per cent to 34,930.
Tech stocks have boomed during COVID-19 because people are spend more time at home and on devices, which has boosted advertising revenue.
Google's parent company Alphabet was up 3.1 per cent after posting a 69 per cent jump in quarterly earnings results, Tesla rose 0.3 per cent, and Facebook increased 1.4 per cent.
Facebook's total revenue, which is mostly thanks to advertising, rose to $US29.09 billion, up from $US18.69 billion a year ago.
However, the social media giant expects its revenue to "decelerate significantly," sending its shares down about 5 per cent in extended trading.
Boeing posted its first quarterly profit in almost two years as revived domestic travel fuelled 737 MAX deliveries, with the plane manufacturer's shares up 5 per cent.
Meanwhile, Pfizer's stocks went up 3 per cent after the vaccine maker raised its full-year sales forecast 29 per cent to $US33.5 billion.
Fed to keep interest rates low
The US Federal Reserve has held its benchmark interest rate in a target range between zero and a quarter of a per cent.
The Fed said the US economy remained on track beside COVID-19 concerns, adding the US job market still had some ground to recover before it would be time to pull back from the economic support.
"It looks like probably the most positive thing for the market was that they are nowhere near increasing interest rates," said investment advisory firm president Alan Lancz from Alan B Lancz and Associates.
On European markets, the German DAX rose 0.3 per cent, while Britain's FTSE was up 0.3 per cent and the STOXX 600 index finished 0.6 per cent.
Iron ore was up to $US202.68 a tonne.
US oil fell 0.1 per cent to $US72.33 a barrel while Brent Crude oil was down 0.1 per cent to $US74.65 a barrel.
Gold was up 0.1 per cent, selling for around $US1,809 an ounce.
Bitcoin's six-week high
Bitcoin broke above $US40,000 on Wednesday, up 1.7 per cent, while rival cryptocurrency ethereum rose 1 per cent to $US2,328.
Bitcoin is within a whisker of rising through its 100-day moving average.
