Australian shares bucked a poor performance by Wall Street to edge 0.6 percent higher on Thursday, aided by a hunt for dividend yield and more merger action. The S&P/ASX 200 index rose to 4976.20 at the close of trade. The benchmark gained 0.6 percent on Thursday. New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was stable, gaining 0.12 percent or 7.8 points to finish the session at 6,149.70.
Ports and rail giant Asciano climbed 3 percent after Qube Holdings Ltd made an A$8.9 billion ($6.25 billion) offer for group. The A$9.17-per-share cash and shares offer beats a A$9.10 offer from Canada's Brookfield Asset Management Inc, which Asciano has already said it supports. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group was the largest contributor to the increase in the overall index, rising 1.5 percent in the wake of a management shake-up.