(RTTNews) - Wednesday, the Australian and New Zealand dollars rose to new multi-month highs against its U.S. and European counterparts as a rise in most Asian stocks boosted demand for higher-yielding currencies. Asian stock markets and oil prices extended their advance today amid renewed faith a recovery in the global economy was sustainable. The strong closing in Wall Street for the second successive day, higher commodity prices supported by the weaker dollar, hiking interest rates by RBA and optimism about corporate earnings are serving as positive catalysts. Investors poured money into riskier assets like stocks and commodities throughout the region, as yesterday's news that Australia was the first major country to raise interest rates since the onset of the financial crisis continued to bolster confidence in the world economy. It was a signal that policymakers believe the country's economy is strong enough to withstand higher borrowing costs, and fueled optimism that other economies were in better than shape than expected. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index surged up 104.10 points, or 2.27% to close at 4,696, while the All-Ordinaries Index ended at 4,696, representing a gain of 98.60 points, or 2.14%. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index .NZ50 slipped 0.3 percent to close at 3,141.2, weighed down by a strong kiwi dollar which traded near 14-month highs. Among other Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average gained 107.80 points, or 1.1 percent, to 9,799.60, Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 430.06 points, or 2.1 percent, to 21,241.59 and Singapore's index gained 0.9 percent. Taiwan's benchmark was up 1 percent. South Korea's market closed flat. Mainland China markets are closed for a weeklong holiday and reopen Friday. On the economic front, results of a survey conducted by the Australian Housing Group and the Housing Industry Association revealed that the Performance of Construction Index rose a seasonally adjusted 8.4 points to 50.8 in September, well above the 42.4 reading in August, marking the first month of expansion after 18 months of contraction. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while one below 50 suggests contraction. In a separate statement, the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that the value of dwellings approved for construction in August increased 0.7% in seasonally adjusted terms. The report further noted that the number of permits for owner-occupied housing decreased 0.6% over the previous month. A total of 62,718 permits for owner-occupied homes were issued for the month.

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