End-of-day summary:
Aussie shares rallied for a third day after Wall Street hit all-time highs and Chinese shares rebounded on reports of government plans to support their market.
The ASX 200 climbed 38 points or 0.51% to its strongest close in two weeks. Healthcare, tech, materials and financials topped the leader-board. Consumer discretionary and property stocks sat out the rally.
Hong Kong's benchmark share index rallied 2.5% this afternoon after Bloomberg reported Chinese plans to arrest a troubling decline in share prices by buying through the HK exchange. The government was considering a rescue package of up to US$278 billion, according to the report.
Overnight, the Dow and S&P 500 scaled fresh highs during a news-lite session to start a busy week of corporate earnings and inflation and economic growth data. The Dow gained 0.36%. The S&P 500 firmed 0.22%.
