The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 18.5 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 6501.8 while the broader All Ordinaries added 20.4 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 6593.Global markets gave local stocks a strong lead with some earnings on Wall Street suggesting economic growth in the country remained firm.Advertisement
Santos and Origin Energy both firmed on Thursday after reporting their earnings. Santos added 3.5 per cent to $7.10 after a solid first-half profit while Origin firmed 2.4 per cent to $7.37 as its LNG export venture contributed to a more-than-fivefold increase in net profit. Vocus Group rose 9.6 per cent to $3.20 despite its full-year profit falling 44 per cent. The company did hit its earnings targets for the 2019 financial year however and chief executive Kevin Russell suggested the result had silenced rumours takeover bidders AGL Energy and EQT had found something "strange" in its books.