Oct 20 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose on Wednesday asmetal-centric stocks jumped on firm commodity prices, whileglobal miner BHP hit a one-month high after topping billionaireAndrew Forrest's bid for nickel miner Noront Resources.
The S&P/ASX 200 index rose about 1% to 7,447.3 by0022 GMT.
Miners were the biggest boosts on the local bourse,climbing 1.6%, after benchmark iron ore prices recovered fromfour consecutive sessions of losses overnight to gain up to1.6%. The country's big mining names - BHP Group , RioTinto and Fortescue Metals - pushed thesub-index higher, climbing between 2.3% and 2.4%.
Global miner BHP also topped a takeover offer for Canadiannickel miner Noront Resources by Forrest's Wyloo Metalsearlier this week, increasing its offer to C$419.3 million($339.27 million), or C$0.75 per share. Online retailer Kogan.com was the top gainer on thelocal bourse, rising 9.8% to hit its highest in over 1-1/2months after reporting an increase in gross sales during theSeptember quarter. The Australian tech index rose 1.9%, tracking WallStreet, which enjoyed the biggest boosts from the technologysector. Software provider for logistics firms WiseTech Global led gains on the sub-index, advancing 2.8%, whilesub-index favourite Afterpay added 2.4%, hitting thehighest in over three weeks.
Oil and gas explorer Beach Energy declined up to 5%to mark its worst day in nearly three weeks after reporting a15.7% dip in first-quarter production. New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.5%to 13,128.1.