ASX 200 up 1.1pc; buoyed by health and real estate; Liontown surges on Tesla deal

ASX closed 1.1 per cent higher, driven by healthcare, real estate and financial stocks. Liontown surged on Tesla deal, CSL and Treasury Wine jumped on solid interim results and business credit demand bounced back.

ASX investors await major results updates. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Damian Shaw

Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Wednesday, February 16. ASX closed 1.1 per cent higher following a string of earnings results. Investors snapped up Liontown Resources after announcing a deal with Tesla, while Treasury Wine and CSL rose after reporting its earnings.

The S&P/ASX 200 closed 1.1 per cent higher at 7284.9.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.2 per cent higher, the S&P 500 added 1.6 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite gained 2.5 per cent.

Energy prices are down on Russia-Ukraine tensions as US bonds are sold off. The price of Brent crude is down 3.3 per cent to $US93.26 per barrel while the US WTI fell 3.6 per cent to $US92.05 per barrel.

Iron ore fell 8.7 per cent to $US136 per tonne amid as China’s regulators warned about unusual price and raised transaction fee for iron ore futures contracts for February to May deliveries.