Australian shares are up 0.5 per cent by mid-afternoon, boosted by Wall Street's mega-cap tech stock rally and the approval of US bitcoin exchange-traded funds. 10 out of 11 sectors showed gains, with consumer-related and tech stocks offsetting mining losses.
Key performers included JB Hi-Fi, Light & Wonder, Collins Food, and tech stocks like NextDC, Novonix, Megaport, and Tyro. Bitcoin also rose 1.3 per cent to $46,552 after the SEC's bitcoin ETF approval, and experts predicted it could reach over $100,000 by year-end.
Mining giants faced pressure due to a drop in iron ore prices, with Rio Tinto and Fortescue down.