Australian shares rose on Thursday, as the gains in banking and technology stocks overshadowed the losses in gold and energy stocks, while investors were cautious and awaited clearer hints on interest rate outlook.

The S&P/ASX 200 index were up 0.5% to 7653.90 by 2330 GMT.

The benchmark ended up 0.5% on Wednesday.

Recently, a number of US Federal Reserve officials have been giving mixed signals about when the next rate cut could be expected, starting with Chair Jerome Powell, who watered down market hopes of a March cut, fuelling the market’s uncertainty.

The heavyweight financials were the top boost on the benchmark, rising 0.6%, with the ‘big four’ banks losing between 0.2% and 0.6%.

Technology stocks jumped more than 1%, tracking an overnight rise in their Wall Street peers. Healthcare stocks were up 0.6%.

Bucking the trend, gold stocks dropped nearly 0.5%, with sector giant Northern Star Resources trading 0.6% lower.

The Australian markets on Wednesday witnessed the annulment of the Woodside-Santos merger to create a possible A$80 billion ($52 billion) global oil and gas giant, in what could have been one of the biggest corporate takeovers in the country’s history.

The energy index extended losses, dropping 0.6, with Woodside Energy and Santos losing 0.9% and 0.4%, respectively.

Australian shares recoup losses on miners, energy boost

Australia’s AGL Energy surged as much as 14.8% in early trade, set for its best session since June, after the energy firm forecast strong half-year and annual profits.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.2% to 11933.33.