Australia shares gain 1.1pc, catch up with US

MELBOURNE: Australian shares rose 1.1 percent on Monday, tracking world indices that ended strongly last week on hopes Greece will seal a long-awaited bailout deal needed to avert a disorderly debt default.

Local sentiment was also lifted by top trading partner China's move to cut the amount of cash banks must hold in reserves by 50 basis points to 20.5 percent on Saturday.

That boosted lending capacity by an estimated 350-400 billion yuan ($55.6-$63.5 billion) to help cushion the world's second-biggest economy from global headwinds.

Top miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto jumped 1.9 percent and 2.1 percent respectively.

"A lot of that is catch-up from our market being oversold last week, when the US held up. China continues to loosen when required and the move was not unexpected," said Fat Prophets head of wealth management, Chris Kimber.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 47.7 points to 4,243.6 at 0024 GMT. The benchmark rose 0.3 percent on Friday, but lost 1.2 percent For the week.

New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index rose 0.8 percent to 3,313.7 points.

STOCKS ON THE MOVE

Shares in surfwear maker Billabong International jumped 8.4 percent to A$2.84 after it said it received an indicative takeover proposal from TPG Capital that does not preclude the planned sale of a half-stake in one of its most profitable brands, Nixon.

Bluescope Steel recovered from early lows to be down 1.3 percent after it reported a first-half loss, while packaging group Amcor climbed 2.8 percent after posting a 14 percent rise in first-half profit.

Shares in underperforming food manufacturer Goodman Fielder jumped 3.8 percent after media reports revived speculation it could be the next target of a private-equity takeover.

Small-scale shale gas players extended recent gains, with NS Energy up 10.4 percent to A$0.425 and Senex up 3.9 percent to A$0.945.