ASX 200 rises for second session on tech and banks; Nickel Mines plunges

Tech and financials push local shares higher for a second day running. Fortescue poaches RBA's Debelle, Brookfield buys La Trobe Financial and Rio Tinto cuts Russia ties.

Stocks in US and Europe soared overnight after recent heavy losses. Picture: Dean Lewins/ AAP Image

Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Thursday, March 10. The Australian sharemarket rises for a second straight session as tech, consumer discretionary and financials all jump. It follows Rio Tinto cutting Russian ties and Myer soaring on its first dividend since 2017.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed 1.1 per cent or 77.8 points higher to 7130.8.

Market sentiment was boosted overnight after a top foreign policy aide in the Ukraine said that the war-ravaged country was open to discussing Russia’s demands of neutrality. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 2 per cent, the S&P 500 climbed 2.6 per cent in its best session since 2020, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 3.6 per cent.

Ihor Zhovka, the chief of staff to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, told Bloomberg that the country was ready for a diplomatic solution, providing there was an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of Russian troops.

The US Nymex crude price plunged 11 per cent to $US110.35 a barrel after the United Arab Emirates and Iraq both signalled that OPEC may be willing to raise output.

Base metals also declined as traders took some profits. Iron ore, meanwhile, traded 2.9 per cent lower to $US157.55 a tonne.