ASX 200 Index bulls dtruggle to get through 6,050, China demand supports

• Chinese demand supporting Auussie share markets, minors supporting.
• US optimism keeping risk appetite in play.

Australian shares climbed on Thursday from the off on the back of Wall Street adding points following strong corporate earnings while investors continued to expect a stimulus agreement.

At the time of writing, ASX 200 Index is trading at 6,041.50 and 0.67% higher on the session so far.

The index was up following the US 'sWalt Disney Co's DIS surprising with quarterly profit beat which had boosted broader sentiment and also helped the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJI finish 1.4% higher.

Meanwhile, Australia's COVID-19 crisis has worsened. 

• Secret modelling reveals COVID-19 cases peak still weeks away - The Australian

The second-most populous state Victoria reported a record 15 deaths on Wednesday even as most businesses in the state prepared to temporarily stop trading.

As for performers, top miners BHP Group BHP and Rio Tinto RIO rose up to 3.7% and 1.4%, respectively, push heavyweight miners to their highest since May 2011 as iron ore futures found support from a pick-up in China demand.

Iron ore futures inched higher amid expectations of stronger demand in China.

Nevertheless, there are growing signs of higher exports in the seaborne market. Vessel tracking data show exports from major ports in Australia totalled 75.4mt in July, up from 69.3mt a year earlier. This comes as inventories in China continue to rise. Port stockpiles have expanded for the past seven weeks,

analysts at ANZ Bank argued.

ASX 200 levels

The index has made a deep reverse head and shoulders on the hourly chart and has been capped at the neckline around 6050.