At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 added 30.84 points, or 0.44%, to 7,064.67. The broader All Ordinaries rose 24.47 points, or 0.34%, to 7,320.01.
All ASX sectors finished in the green, exception being materials which fell 0.9%. Property was the top performer, up 1.5%, followed by financials which climbed 1.1%. Energy and health care also experienced notable gains.
Woodside Petroleum and Santos rose over 1%, tracking gains in oil prices overnight. Viva Energy jumped 3% to extend gains from the previous session after the fuel supplier said it is making strong progress on its business recovery program.
Lender Westpac advanced 1.2% after it agreed to settle a class action over life insurance launched by Shine Lawyers. The other three big banks rose between half a% and 1.1% on easing concerns of an earlier than expected interest rate hike after quarterly inflation data came in under expectations.
Ansell (ANN) finished up 3.9%, noting it is continuing to experience strong demand for its Personal Protective Equipment. ANN expects 2H sales growth to be better than the 24.5% lift in 1H.
Airtasker (ART) closed 7.8% higher after upgrading its FY21 guidance this morning. Property group Mirvac (MGR) finished 3.1% higher, raising its FY21 earnings and distribution forecasts. MGR said it will return JobKeeper payments made in FY21.
ECONOMIC NEWS: Australia Q1 Consumer Prices Climb 0.6% On Quarter- Australia consumer prices were up 0.6% on quarter in the first quarter of 2021, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. On a yearly basis, inflation gained 1.1%, up from 0.9% in the previous three months. The Reserve Bank of Australia's trimmed mean was up 0.3% on quarter and 1.1% on year - slowing from 0.4% on quarter and 1.2% on year in the previous quarter.
CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar was at $0.7745 after yesterday's decline from around $0.78.
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