The local share market has climbed for a third straight day, with tech stocks posting solid gains after AI chipmaker Nvidia overnight smashed quarterly earnings expectations.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Thursday strengthened its gains in the afternoon to finish up 33.7 points, or 0.47 per cent, to a one-week high of 7,182.1.
The broader All Ordinaries gained 33 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 7,400.6.
Tech stocks gained 4.2 per cent after US artificial intelligence chipmaker Nvidia blew away earnings estimates by delivering $US13.5 billion in June quarter sales and predicted even stronger numbers for the current quarter.
"Nvidia becomes a new Wall Street legend with a jaw-dropping earnings beat," said CMC Markets APAC and Canada analyst Tina Teng.
Wisetech Global bounced back from Wednesday's steep losses, climbing 8.2 per cent to $75.25, while AI dataset company Appen added 7.4 per cent to $2.33 and circuitboard design company Altium climbed 4.9 per cent to $48.19.
All the big banks finished higher, with Westpac adding 1.4 per cent to $21.43, CBA climbing 1.2 per cent to $100.61, NAB up 1.3 per cent to $28.39 and ANZ finishing 0.5 per cent higher at $24.56.
In the heavyweight material sector, BHP finished up 0.6 per cent to $43.78, Fortescue edged 0.2 per cent higher at $21.06 and Rio Tinto advanced 0.9 per cent to $108.83.
Northern Star added 5.2 per cent to $11.16 as the goldminer posted record full-year cash earnings of $1.2 billion.
A number of other companies made earnings announcements.
Qantas added 0.8 per cent to $6.22 after the flag carrier announced it had made a full-year after-tax profit of $1.74 billion, and would spend $500 million of that buying back shares. It is also ordering two dozen new widebody aircraft.
Ramsay Health Care plunged 12.0 per cent to a nearly decade-low of $48.71 after the private hospital operator missed consensus estimates with $1.98 billion in full-year earnings.
Telix Pharmaceuticals climbed 3.6 per cent to $10.14 after the radiopharmaceutical company announced nearly a ninefold increase in full-year revenues and an 80 per cent reduction in losses.
Nine Entertainment added 0.5 per cent to $2.04 after the media group reported a 38 per cent dive in profit to $195 million amid falling advertising revenue.
Tabcorp advanced 4.3 per cent to $1.095 after announcing that new "level playing field" rules in Queensland had resulted in Tabcorp earnings from that state outperforming the rest of the group on almost every metric.
Judo Bank fell 19.8 per cent to $1.015 after the business-focused bank announced a contraction in its net interest margin and rising operating costs.
Also dropping on earnings results were Lovisa, which fell 6.2 per cent to $21.23; Perpetual Group, which dropped 6.5 per cent to $23.31; South32, which finished down 2.4 per cent to $3.66; Smartgroup, which dropped 10 per cent to $8.38; and Whitehaven Coal, which fell 5.1 per cent to $6.92.
Medibank Private added 2.6 per cent to $3.51 on its results.
Also, Costa Group plunged 10.8 per cent to $2.96 after the fruit and veggie grower postponed the release of its first half and flagged a deteriorating outlook across its citrus fruits and softening consumer demand for tomatoes.
The Australian dollar was buying 64.62 US cents, from 64.25 US cents at Wednesday's ASX close.
ON THE ASX:
* The S&P/ASX200 index finished Thursday up 33.7 points, or 0.47 per cent, at 7,182.1.
* The All Ordinaries gained 33 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 7,400.6.
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 64.62 US cents, from 64.25 US cents at Wednesday's ASX close
* 93.81 Japanese yen, from 93.38 Japanese yen
* 59.53 Euro cents, from 59.35 Euro cents
* 50.88 British pence, from 50.49 pence
* 108.53 NZ cents, from 108.13 NZ cents.
