Shares of healthcare companies gained, with Pharma giant CSL up 1.7% to A$220.84, meanwhile Healius was up 1.3% to A$3.06 and AusCann rose 4.2% to A$37.
Financial stocks gained, with big four banks led rally. ANZ was up 1.3% to A$28.16, Commonwealth up 1.1% to A$81.83, NAB up 1.1% to A$26.92 and Westpac up 1.1% to A$28.21.
The energy sector was also higher with the price of crude oil reversing some of its steep 4% decline from the previous session. Local energy companies were higher with Origin Energy (ORG) up 1.8%, among the standouts.
The materials sector slid after iron ore futures retreated. Mining giant BHP was down 0.1% to A$42.02, Rio Tinto was down 0.1% to A$106.90 and Fortescue Metals was down 0.1% to A$9.39.
Consumer discretionary shares were in the red, after ABS statistics for May indicated lower than expected levels of retail spending. Flight Centre was down 1.7% to A$42.25, 3P Learning was down 3.5% to 98 cents and Jumbo Interactive was down 1% to A$20.
On the economic front, Australia retail sales rose 0.1% month-on-month in May, offsetting a 0.1% drop in April, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday. Food and clothing sales decreased 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively. Department store sales dropped 0.4%. Meanwhile, cafand restaurant sales grew 0.7%. Another report from ABS showed that the number of job vacancies fell 1.1% from preceding period in the May quarter but grew 1.8% from the previous year.
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CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar surged to an almost nine-week high against the U.S. dollar on Thursday. The Australian dollar changed hands at 70.46 US cents, from 69.94 US cents on Wednesday.
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