Australian shares gained on Wednesday as miners rallied for a third straight session and tech stocks tracked their Wall Street peers higher, with investors hoping that the U.S. Federal Reserve will stick to its supportive policy stance.
The S&P/ASX 200 index <.AXJO> rose 0.7% to 5,933.3 by 0030 GMT. It climbed as much as 0.9% earlier in the session.
The tech index <.AXIJ> added as much as 2.5% to be the top percentage gainer after its U.S. counterpart ended more than 1% higher overnight, while export-reliant miners <.AXMM> were the biggest boost to the benchmark index.
Eyes are on the outcome from the Fed's two-day policy meeting later in the day, the first since Chair Jerome Powell announced a more accommodative stance on inflation. [.N]
Meanwhile, Australia's second-most populous state Victoria reported 42 new COVID-19 cases and eight deaths in the last 24 hours, a day after it recorded zero deaths for the first time in more than two months.
Among other shares and sectors, buy now, pay later firm Afterpay <APT.AX> and software company Xero <XRO.AX> were up about 2%.
Miners jumped after upbeat Chinese data on Tuesday, with global giants BHP Group <BHP.AX> and Rio Tinto <RIO.AX> gaining 1.6% and 2%, respectively.
QBE Insurance Group <QBE.AX> said a London court largely ruled in its favour in a case examining the reading of policy wordings by eight insurers regarding business interruptions caused by the pandemic. Its shares shed 0.5%.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index <.NZ50> rose 0.5% to 11,825.41, with blue-chip firms being among the top gainers.
Electricity generator Meridian Energy <MEL.NZ> advanced about 1% after it reported a 7.5% rise in its local retail sales volume in August.
A Reuters poll showed New Zealand is likely to record its sharpest quarterly contraction in the June quarter, officially entering recession.
(Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)
