The sharemarket edged higher at midday amid a flurry of full-year earnings results and relief in the bond market after the US Treasury revealed buyback plans to help ease multi-decade high borrowing costs.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 16.6 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 9070.4 around 12pm AEST on Thursday, despite seven out of the 11 sectors trading in the red. Gains in mining and rate-sensitive technology stocks helped offset losses elsewhere.

The morning session was buoyed by a rally in US Treasuries overnight that drove the 30-year yield down 10 basis points to 5.18 per cent in New York as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced plans to boost bond buybacks. The fall in yields also sent gold to its highest level since June and triggered a rally in tech stocks.

On the ASX, a tick-up in the Australian unemployment rate to 4.5 per cent was largely shrugged off by the market when the data hit, even though it supports the case for leaving interest rates on hold.

Australian technology stocks were higher, with Codan jumping 12 per cent and Xero up 2.1 per cent. WiseTech rebounded 6.4 per cent after Wednesday’s 9 per cent plunge. And Zip shares rocketed more than 12 per cent after the buy now, pay later provider said earnings had surged by 58 per cent for the full year.

Miners jumped with the higher gold price, with Northern Star Resources, which reported a 19 per cent increase in revenue to $7.6 billion, rising 7 per cent. Evolution Mining jumped 9 per cent, Greatland Resources 9.5 per cent, Genesis Minerals 9.6 per cent, and Newmont 7.2 per cent.

Index heavyweight BHP gained 2.6 per cent and Rio Tinto 1.5 per cent, while Fortescue, which reported a 15 per cent slide in its full-year profit, was flat.

The healthcare sector also further extended its rally, with CSL up 4.6 per cent and ResMed 3.3 per cent. Telix Pharmaceuticals, which swung to a first-half net profit of $US38 million ($53 million), rose 2.4 per cent. But Sonic Healthcare, which posted an 18 per cent jump in net profit, fell 7.2 per cent.

The big banks limited gains, with Commonwealth Bank down more than 2 per cent. Westpac, ANZ, and National Australia Bank were all down more than 1 per cent.

Stocks in focus

On another busy day of financial results, Goodman Group eased 3.3 per cent despite full-year operating profit rising 15.7 per cent to $2.67 billion.

IDP Education plunged 27 per cent after the education services provider posted a 74 per cent slump in net profit to $13.3 million and an 11 per cent drop in revenue of $795.4 million.

Medibank Private tumbled nearly 8 per cent after it said membership growth slowed last year and warned that cost-of-living pressures were forcing people to downgrade their health insurance cover.

Super Retail Group surged 16 per cent after the Rebel and Macpac owner’s earnings beat expectations and analysts noted a “reasonable” start to FY27 despite a tough retail environment.

Takeover target Cleanaway gained 1 per cent after it recorded underlying earnings before interest and taxation of $470.2 million for the full year, up 14.2 per cent.

Cuscal jumped 6.1 per cent after its profit jumped by 49 per cent to $42.7 million on the back of two key acquisitions, in what its chief executive described as a “defining year”.

Megaport gained 6.7 per cent after profit rose 24 per cent to $77.1 million from a year ago, driven by stronger revenue following its acquisition of Latitude.sh.

Logistics group Brambles fell 2.9 per cent despite lifting its final dividend and generating a 6 per cent rise in profit to $US954 million.

Universal Store Holdings surged 14 per cent as the retailer flagged sales were growing at its youth fashion outlets. Profit still fell 21.6 per cent to $18.2 million.

Property group Dexus slipped 0.4 per cent after it warned of lower earnings in fiscal 2027, hit by higher borrowing costs, lower trading profits and reduced performance fees.

Dairy company Bega Group jumped 4.2 per cent after announcing it would step up investment to capitalise on increasing demand for protein products.

And Maas gained 5.1 per cent after the Dubbo-based construction group said it would not pay a final dividend because it wants to use capital to buy back shares, after delivering an 89 per cent rise in full-year profit to $136.1 million.