Australian shares ended higher on Monday as a Wall Street rally on Friday boosted sentiment, while Suncorp Group gained on selling its banking business to Australia and New Zealand Banking Group in a $3.3 billion deal.
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed up 81.5 points, or 1.2%, at 6,687.1, its biggest jump since late June.
The biggest macro force at play was the strong rally in US stocks on Friday, after Citigroup’s earnings beat and steadying iron ore and other commodity prices, said Henry Jennings, a senior analyst and portfolio manager at Marcustoday Financial Newsletter.
The domestic financial sector notched its biggest rise since early June with a 1.4% rise, with three out of four of Australia’s “Big Four” banks gaining between 1% and 1.9%.
Among the top gainer on the sector index was insurer Suncorp Group, which rose 6.1% on selling its banking business to Australia and New Zealand Banking Group for A$4.9 billion ($3.33 billion). ANZ also plans on raising A$3.5 billion by way of stock issuance to fund the deal.
ANZ’s stock was halted on Monday. Heavyweight miners rose 2.5%, helped by a rebound in iron ore futures, with BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group gaining between 2.1% and 3.4%.
The country’s energy sector was also boosted 2.2%, with Whitehaven Coal soaring 5.2% on flagging record core earnings for the financial year.
Miners, Rio Tinto drag Australian shares to end lower
Lynas Rare Earths, the biggest rare earths producer outside China, reported quarterly revenue rising by more than half, but rare-earths oxide production fell sequentially.
New Zealand inflation hit a three-decade high in the secord quarter, data showed, bolstering the prospect of an unprecedented 75-basis-point interest rate hike by the central bank in August.
New Zealand stocks closed 41.02 points, or 0.37% higher, at 11,163.63.
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