ASX 200 up 0.5pc, led by mining and energy stocks amid oil price surge; CBA's CommSec to pay $20m fine for overcharging

ASX 200 extends gains for a fifth day in a row, led by mining and energy companies. Santos CEO reverses MinRes board move and CommSec to pay $20m fine for overcharging.

Reprieve for the market as the Federal Reserve indicated a slower pace of interest rate hikes. Picture: Gaye Gerard/NCA Newswire

Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Thursday, March 3. ASX 200 rose for a fifth day in a row for the first time this year, amid soaring commodity prices. Stanmore plans to raise $694m, while CBA has agreed to pay $20m for years of overcharging customers.

The ASX 200 index closed 0.5 per cent higher at 7151.4, driven by a rally in energy and material stocks.  The benchmark was up as much as 1.1 per cent in morning trading.

US futures are pointing to a weak start on Wall Street as crude oil continued its ascent. US stocks rallied in the previous session as the US Federal Reserve Chairman, appearing before the House Committee on Financial Services, flagged a 25 basis points increase at the central bank’s meeting in two weeks. That eased concern for a more aggressive rate hike schedule to tame inflation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 1.8 per cent, the broader  S&P 500 gained 1.9 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.6 per cent. Major bourses in Europe also closed higher.

The US Nymex crude price climbed 2.9 per cent to $113.79 a barrel after surging more than 8 per cent in the previous session amid reports of refiners rejecting Russian oil.

Brent crude oil futures climbed 3.1 per cent to $US116.44 after hitting a a 9-year high of $US118.22 in APAC trading. Bloomberg reported that a cargo of 700,000 barrels of Russia's Sokol crude loading at a $US1 premium to the Dubai benchmark was unsold after no bids were made.

Coal prices are also trading near record highs. Newcastle thermal coal, the benchmark for seaborne supplies in the Asia Pacific region, was up 42 per cent to $US435 a tonne on Wednesday, tripling its value in the last two months alone.

Iron ore, meanwhile, gained 0.4 per cent overnight to $US145 a tonne.

Originally published as ASX 200 up 0.5pc, led by mining and energy stocks amid oil price surge; CBA's CommSec to pay $20m fine for overcharging