ASX 200 climbs; St Barbara dives on downgrade, Block leads strong tech gains, Adbri hits 18-year low

ASX soars as US futures rally. Tech enjoys biggest gain in four weeks, St Barbara hammered on downgrade, Adbri hits 18-year low and Zenith places Magellan under review.

RBA's October meeting minutes and global developments are in focus for local investors. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Tuesday, October 18. The Australian sharemarket rocketed as US futures rally and the tech sector enjoys its biggest gain in four weeks.

The S&P/ASX 200 index advanced 1.7 per cent to 6779.20.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 added 2.7 per cent, the Nasdaq rose 3.4 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.9 per cent.

US 10-year bond yields rose to 4.02 per cent while two-year yields fell to 4.46 per cent.

Oil prices are down with the benchmark Brent crude price 0.1 per cent lower at $US91.62 per barrel and the US Nymex 0.2 per cent off at $US85.46 per barrel.

Gold futures price is up 0.9 per cent to $US1664 an ounce and iron ore futures price is 1 per cent weaker at $US94.93 per tonne.

The Aussie dollar was near US63.22c at the close.