Strong corporate earnings lift Australia shares

Australian shares rose on Monday, led by mining and technology stocks, as upbeat annual results from Event Hospitality & Entertainment and plumbing firm Reliance Worldwide lifted risk appetite in the final week of the corporate earnings season.

The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.15% at 7,472.3 points points, as of 0158 GMT. The benchmark closed lower at 7,460.9 points on Friday.

Technology stocks tracked a strong Wall Street finish from the previous session, with Australian data company Appen Ltd jumping 4.34% and Nearmap Ltd climbing 3.82%.

Australian shares set to retreat from record high, NZ rises

Sub-index heavyweight Afterpay led the advance among tech stocks, rising as much as 3.6% to hit its highest in about two weeks.

Reliance Worldwide touched a three-year high, jumping as much as 4%, after the global plumbing, heating and piping firm nearly tripled its final payout and doubled its annual profit.

Shares of Event Hospitality and Entertainment rose as much as 4.8% to mark their best day in more than four months after the cinema chain operator narrowed its annual loss compared with the previous year.

Major miners rose 0.82%, led by Ioneer Ltd, up 8.43%, followed by Pilbara Minerals Ltd gaining 5.69%.

The country's largest mining companies - BHP Group, Rio Tinto, and Fortescue Metals advanced between 1.3% and 1.7%.

Australian fuel supplier Ampol Ltd skidded as much as 5.6%, hitting its lowest in more than three months after making a takeover bid for New Zealand peer Z Energy, valuing it at 24% premium to its last closing price.

Shares of Z Energy rose as much as 18.7% to their highest since March 18, 2020.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 1.22% to 13,098.4 points.

Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei was up 1.19% at 27333.41 points while S&P 500 E-minis futures were up 0.17%.