The local share market has finished higher for a second day, slowly clawing back losses from a vicious sell-off as traders snapped up bargains.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Wednesday finished 19.2 points higher at 7,699.8, a gain of 0.25 per cent, while the broader All Ordinaries rose 23 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 7,913.1.
The move higher came after a gauge of activity in the US services sector known as the Services PMI came in overnight stronger than expected, allaying fears about the state of the world's biggest economy.
The US labour market was slowing but not in freefall and a broad suite of indicators showed it remained healthy, ANZ researchers Brian Martin and Daniel Hynes said.
Concerns about a US recession that prompted the 5.8 per cent selloff over Friday and Monday seem overdone, they said.
Nine of the ASX's 11 sectors finished higher, with materials and financials down by 0.2 and 0.1 per cent, respectively.
The telecommunications and utilities sectors were the biggest gainers, both rising slightly more than one per cent as Telstra climbed 1.3 per cent and AGL Energy added 1.9 per cent.
A trio of lithium developers were the three biggest risers in the ASX200, with Arcadium up 7.5 per cent, Pilbara rising 6.4 per cent and IGO adding 4.8 per cent.
The gains came after Arcadium revealed just a small drop in quarterly profit and suspended its expansion plans in Canada given falling prices for the battery metal.
Elsewhere in the sector, goldminer Newmont climbed one per cent while Evolution dropped 0.5 per cent and Westgold retreated 3.1 per cent as the precious metal changed hands for $US2,394 an ounce.
Rio Tinto dropped 1.4 per cent to $116.65, Fortescue retreated 0.9 per cent to $18.44 and BHP dipped 0.6 per cent to $41.02.
The Big Four banks were mostly lower, with NAB falling 0.9 per cent to $34.74, Westpac dropping 0.7 per cent to $27.62 and CBA dipping 0.3 per cent to $127.34. ANZ was the outlier, gaining 0.2 per cent to $27.36.
Audinate fell further after Tuesday's 36.3 per cent selloff, dropping 2.4 per cent to a six-month low of $8.28. Droneshield dropped 4.9 per cent to a three-month low of 97.5c.
Neuren Pharmaceuticals was in a trading halt so the company could announce the results of a clinical trial of its potential treatment for Angelman syndrome, a rare genetic disorder.
Indicative pricing showed Neuren shares were set to drop nearly seven per cent when trading resumes.
In small caps, Centaurus Metals rocketed 26.2 per cent to a three-week high of 38.5c and Wildcat Resources soared 17.4 per cent to a similar high of 27c after the junior explorers presented at the Diggers and Dealers Mining Forum in Kalgoorlie, WA.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Wednesday up 19.2 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 7,699.8.
* The broader All Ordinaries rose 23 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 7,913.1.
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 65.39 US cents, from 65.05 US cents at Tuesday's ASX close
* 95.83 Japanese yen, from 94.73 Japanese yen
* 59.91 euro cents, from 59.47 euro cents
* 51.48 British pence, from 51.00 pence
* 108.92 NZ cents, from 109.70 NZ cents
