Australian shares rose for a sixth straight session on Thursday, as expectations of further easings by global central banks underpinned the financial sector. The S&P/ASX 200 index topped out at 5,416 points intraday, the highest since May 27, before closing at 5,411.60, a gain of 0.4 percent. The benchmark rose 0.7 percent on Wednesday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index edged up 0.2 percent or 16 points to finish the session at 7,080.33, within a whisker of Wednesday's record high of 7090.30. Thursday's cautious rally follows a welcome jump in full-time jobs, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, although the unemployment rate also rose. Shares in oil and gas explorer FAR Ltd slumped as much as 20 percent before going on a trading halt, after Woodside Petroleum agreed to buy out ConocoPhillips' interests in oil discoveries off Senegal, where FAR is a stakeholder. The price Woodside paid implied a value of A$0.07 for FAR, well below some analysts' estimates of the value of its stake. Mining stocks backtracked on recent gains. BHP Billiton Ltd shares fell 1.5 percent, Newcrest Mining Ltd shares lost 3 percent and Rio Tinto Ltd stocks were down 1.4 percent at lunchtime.