Australian shares closed higher on Wednesday, mirroring overnight gains on Wall Street, with material stocks providing a major lift to the domestic benchmark, while promising developments in a potential COVID-19 vaccine added to the cheer.
The S&P/ASX 200 index <.AXJO> rose 1.88% to 6,052.9 points, in its best day since June 30, despite tightened restrictions on movement to contain a fresh outbreak of COVID-19 that has pushed the national case tally over 10,000.
The benchmark closed 0.6% lower on Tuesday.
The Australian market took cue from strong overnight gains on the major Wall Street indices, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> ended more than 2% higher and the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained over a percent.
U.S. stocks rallied after Federal Reserve Board Governor Lael Brainard hinted at an additional monetary stimulus, analysts at OCBC Bank said in a note.
Meanwhile, U.S. researchers on Tuesday reported that Moderna Inc's <MRNA.O> experimental vaccine for COVID-19 provoked immune responses in all 45 healthy volunteers in an ongoing early-stage study.
"The sooner a vaccine or treatment is available, the easier it is for the economic recovery to take place," said CommSec market analyst James Tao.
ASX 300 metals and mining index <.AXMM> rose 2.7% led by Champion Iron Ltd <CIA.AX>, up 10.29%, followed by Aurelia Metals Ltd <AMI.AX>, gaining 7.55%
Basic material stocks chased overnight gains in their U.S. counterparts, which were also a major boost to the U.S. indices in the last session.
Technology stocks <.AXIJ> rose 2.77% led by WiseTech Global Ltd <WTC.AX>, up 4.58%, followed by EML Payments Ltd <EML.AX>, gaining 4.5%.
Buy-now-pay-later firm Afterpay Ltd <APT.AX> jumped 5% before closing 2% higher, recouping after three sessions of losses for the first time in a month.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index <.NZ50> rose 1% to 11,610.52.
Top gainers on the <.NZ50> are Vista Group International Ltd <VGL.NZ>, up 4.17%, followed by Oceania Healthcare Ltd <OCA.NZ>, gaining 3.09%.
(Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
