Australia stocks rise on US stimulus, economic recovery hopes

Australian shares rose sharply on Monday and were set for their best day in two months after the US Senate passed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan, while last week's upbeat US jobs data also supported sentiment.

The S&P/ASX 200 index advanced as much as 1.8% to 6,830.7 by 2240 GMT. The benchmark ended 0.7% lower on Friday.

The US Senate on Saturday passed President Joe Biden's COVID-19 relief plan, one of the largest stimulus bills in US history, a day after data showed that the US economy created more jobs than expected in February.

Over the weekend, Australia also started vaccinating its citizens against the coronavirus with AstraZeneca's vaccine. Inoculation with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine had started in February.

Among individual sectors, mining stocks gained as much as 2.8%, with BHP and Rio Tinto firming 3.4% and 3%, respectively.

Technology stocks rose as much as 2.7%, snapping four straight sessions of losses. Buy now, pay later firm Afterpay advanced up to 4.6%, while Appen gained as much as 3.8%.

Financial stocks rose 1.5% to hit an over one-week high. The "Big Four" banks rose between 1.2% and 1.9%.

Top performers in the financial sector were Janus Henderson Group and IOOF Holdings, gaining 4.7% and 3.1%, respectively.

Energy stocks rose nearly 2% to a 10-week high, tracking a jump in oil prices. Oil Search advanced 4.3%, while Beach Energy firmed 3.8%.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was 1.3% higher at 12,334.3.

The top percentage gainers on the index were Mercury NZ and Synlait Milk, up 3.7% and 2.9%, respectively.