The Australian sharemarket extended its winning streak to a third consecutive session on Wednesday, with technology stocks spearheading broad-based gains as investors absorbed a fresh round of corporate earnings updates.
The S&P/ASX 200 rose 48.1 points, or 0.5%, to close at 9,007.0, with 10 of the 11 sectors finishing in positive territory.
The information technology sector led the advance, with WiseTech Global and Xero both posting gains of 1.5% and 1.8%, respectively.
TechnologyOne also rallied 8.2% after lifting its full-year guidance, citing strong growth in consulting services and new artificial intelligence product upgrades.
National Australia Bank jumped 4% after reporting a 16% rise in cash earnings to $2.02 billion, supported by robust performance in its markets and treasury division. Net profit climbed 30% to $2.21 billion.
The other major lenders were mixed. Commonwealth Bank slipped 0.7%, ANZ Group ticked down 0.3%, while Westpac added 0.2%.
Health insurers gained after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese approved an increase of around 5% to annual premiums from April.
nib Holdings advanced 5%, Medibank climbed 6%, and Netwealth soared 13.6% after delivering low single-digit beats across revenue, EBITDA, profit before tax and dividend in the December half.
Real estate investment trusts also strengthened, with Goodman Group adding 0.9%, Charter Hall Group up 3.4%, and Stockland finishing 1.2% higher. Mirvac Group gained 5.7% after reporting a 5% rise in operating profit to $248 million.
The materials sector was the lone laggard as BHP fell 0.9% after hitting a record high on Tuesday. However, Rio Tinto and Fortescue gained 1.3% and 0.5%, respectively.
In other corporate developments, Santos dropped 0.6% after reporting a 35% decline in full-year profit, as weaker oil and gas prices offset a modest increase in production.
Superloop soared 18.2% following a strong half-year earnings beat and its $165 million acquisition of Victoria’s Lightning Broadband.
Meanwhile, Suncorp Group slid 4.4% after posting first-half FY2026 net profit of $263 million, missing expectations due to slower-than-anticipated gross written premium growth of 2.7%.
On the bond markets, Australian government yields rose modestly, with the 10-year yield up 0.4% to 4.725% and the 2-year yield climbing 0.4% to 4.204%.
