ASX hits six-week high; Macquarie gains on profit; Sezzle surges 40 per cent

ASX hits six-week high as miners and banks jump. Sezzle paces BNPL surge, Macquarie climbs on profit, Westpac delays final bids for platform and Atlas drops after IFM walks.

Equity investors continue to parse global and local economic data. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Thursday, July 28. The Australian sharemarket hit a six-week high on broad gains led by materials. It comes as Fortescue posts record iron ore shipments and Macquarie delivers a first-quarter profit.

The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 1 per cent higher to 6889.70 with most sectors higher.

On Wall Street, the technology-focused Nasdaq Composite Index led the widespread rally with a 4.1 per cent jump on Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet’s better than expected results a day earlier, Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.4 per cent and the S&P 500 climbed 2.6 per cent.

Investors were buoyed by Mr Powell’s comments about the strength of the US economy. “Two-point-seven million people hired in the first half of the year — it doesn’t make sense that the economy would be in recession,” he said.

Oil prices are higher with global benchmark Brent crude 2.1 per cent stronger to $US106.62 per barrel and the US Nymex gaining 2.4 per cent to $US97.26.

Iron ore futures prices is up 0.1 per cent to $US106..47 per tonne.

The Aussie dollar is trading around US69.95c at the US close.