Australian shares edged higher 0.1 percent on Thursday after a solid session on Wall Street prompted investors to pick up recently battered mining stocks, though worries of a slowing growth in China tempered gains. The S&P/ASX 200 index added 6.4 points to 5,382.2 at the close of trade. The benchmark lost 0.7 percent on Wednesday. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index added 0.4 percent, or 19.7 points, to finish the session at 5,277.9.
Mining stocks, which have underperformed in recent weeks as a supply glut slashed spot iron ore prices by almost 41 percent this year, attracted bargain hunters. Global iron ore miners BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd added 0.8 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively.
"We still expect resources to underperform but they're probably taken a fair bit of the hit already," said Bill Keenan, general manager equities and researcher at Lonsec. The benchmark erased almost all of its year-to-date gains earlier this week as foreign investors pulled out of the local equities market on the back of rising bond yields, while a slump in iron ore prices dented resources stocks. In the banking sector, top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia gained 0.4 percent, while National Australia Bank rose 0.5 percent.