A rally in ASX-listed stocks with exposure to the US economy helped push the Australian sharemarket higher on Wednesday, tracking a strong lead on Wall Street and as Donald Trump took a lead in the US election.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.8 per cent, or by 67.7 points, to 8199.5 at the closing bell, with eight out of the 11 sectors in the green. The All Ordinaries added 0.8 per cent.

TMS Capital portfolio manager Ben Clark said companies that have exposure to US consumers in particular were “ripping higher”.

“The market is clearly favouring businesses which are exposed to the US economy and markets,” he said.

The fund manager pointed to companies with dual listings in the US such as pokies maker Light & Wonder, which rallied 4.7 per cent to $149.70, and News Corp jumping 4 per cent to $46.10 as examples of stocks benefiting from the poll results, which at the close of trading had Trump ahead of Democrat hopeful Kamala Harris.

Stocks on the move

Others include Afterpay parent Block, which surged 4.1 per cent to $114.90, and sleep apnoea devices maker ResMed adding 2.3 per cent to $37.83. All the companies were among the best-performing stocks on the ASX 200.

Meanwhile, lithium stocks were hard hit by the early poll results because of the Democrats-provided funding to companies in the battery-making industry. As a result, IGO dropped 5.6 per cent to $5.06 and was the worst performer.

Other sectors got swept up in the broadly bullish market sentiment, with all the major banks recording gains, led by National Australia Bank climbing 1.6 per cent to $39.25. Commonwealth Bank added 1.1 per cent to $145.46, ANZ gained 0.6 per cent to $31.27 and Westpac rose 1.1 per cent to $32.26.

Local technology stocks tracked overnight gains on Wall Street, which saw Nvidia climb nearly 3 per cent to become the largest company in the world, with a market cap of $US3.43 trillion, overtaking Apple.

WiseTech rose 1 per cent to $122.42, Xero was up 2.3 per cent to $153.68 and NextDC climbed 1.8 per cent to $16.70.

The Australian dollar slumped 1.5 per cent to US65.39¢ after the US dollar hit a four-month high, as early results of the US presidential vote suggest that Donald Trump has an edge in key states. Investors also piled into cryptocurrencies, with bitcoin jumping more than 8 per cent.

And in company news, Goodman Group said it expected operating earnings per share to grow 9 per cent in FY25 with a full-year distribution of 30¢, according to the latest operational update. The shares slipped 0.2 per cent to $36.22 on Wednesday.