Australian shares closed higher on Monday, recording their best day in nearly five months, as firm commodity prices powered mining stocks and investors bought stocks that witnessed a selloff recently.
The S&P/ASX 200 closed 1.9% higher at 6,706.00 points — its biggest one-day gain since Jan. 28.
The benchmark also rose for a third straight day. Most sub-indexes rose, marking widespread improvements that could be a case of bargain hunters taking advantage of heavy selling that the market has recently underwent, said Steven Daghlian, a market analyst at CommSec.
The mining index jumped 1.6% to snap a three-day losing streak, as iron ore prices firmed.
BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals advanced 2.4%-3.5%. Among other individual sectors and shares, financials climbed 2.6% to a near two-week high.
The country’s “big four” lenders added between 2.3% and 4%. Gold stocks were the sole laggards on the benchmark, down 7.4% to their lowest in more than two years.
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Evolution Mining was the biggest loser on the sub-index, plunging 21.9% and marking its worst day since December 2011, after the company cut its fiscal 2022 gold production forecast.
Separately, share registry firm Link Administration rose 4.1%, even as Canada’s Dye & Durham lowered its takeover offer by nearly a quarter to A$2.21 billion ($1.53 billion).
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 ended 1.7% higher at 10,997.92 points — its best session since March 17 as flag carrier Air New Zealand and dairy firm a2 Milk rallied.
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