Australia shares hit 3-week peak as miners, banks surge

April 23 - Miners and banks propelled Australian shares to a three-week high on Wednesday, as hopes of a U.S.-China trade thaw after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would negotiate with China lifted sentiments.

The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 1.7% to 7948.7, its highest since April 2, by 0110 GMT. The benchmark had ended flat on Tuesday.

Trump on Tuesday said he would be "very nice" in negotiations with Australia's top trading partner China and that tariffs on Chinese imports would fall significantly following a deal, but not to zero.

The president also stepped back from his recent rhetoric against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell after days of ramping up criticisms of the central bank chief for not cutting interest rates, easing market concerns.

The de-escalation drew an immediate thumbs up from Wall Street and spilled over to the Australian shares as all key sectors traded in the green.

BHP's 2.9% gain and Rio Tinto's 2.3% rise led the sub-index 0.2% higher to its highest since April 1.

Financials advanced 1.6% and eyed its sixth consecutive session of gains after touching its highest in over a month earlier in the session.

Investors flocked to banks, considered safer bets, to shield from uncertainties over Trump tariffs.

Three "Big Four" banks rose between 2% and 2.9%. However, top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia shed 0.7%.

Energy stocks gained 4.3%, tracking oil prices higher. Woodside Energy advanced 3.3% after reporting a 13% year-on-year rise in quarterly revenue.

IT firms added 3.1%, while health stocks rose 2.6% to its highest in nearly two weeks.

However, gold shares slumped 6.7% after gold prices fell as Trump backed down from his threats to fire Powell and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hinted at easing trade tensions.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 1.5% to 12011.05 points by 0110 GMT.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.