Australian shares rose on Monday, led by heavyweight financials, while technology stocks emerged as the top percentage gainers following a chipmaker-fuelled rally on Wall Street last week.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.56% at 7,463.30 points, as of 0030 GMT.
The benchmark lost 1% last week.
The S&P 500 posted a record high close on Friday for the first time in two years, fuelled by a rally in US chipmakers and other heavyweight technology stocks on optimism around artificial intelligence.
On the domestic bourse, Australian technology stocks rose as much as 1.1% on Monday, their highest since Sept. 4, 2023.
Sector majors Xero and Wisetech Global climbed 2% each.
Financials climbed 1%, with the “Big Four” banks rising between 0.7% and 1.3%. Gold stocks rose as much as 0.2%, lifted by a 1.1% jump in shares of Northern Star Resources.
Bucking the trend, energy stocks edged 0.1% lower as oil prices dipped on Friday on concerns over demand in China.
Heavyweight mining stocks slipped 0.1%, with sector majors BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue falling between 0.04% and 0.6%.
Shares of Liontown Resources fell as much as 25.9% to their lowest level since June 2022 to emerge as the top loser in the benchmark index, after the lithium miner announced a review of the planned expansion of its Kathleen Valley project.
Australian shares snap 5-day losing streak on financials, mining boost
Lynas Rare Earths fell as much as 3.4%, their lowest level since July 2021, after its second-quarter revenue fell sharply.
Diversified miner South32 fell as much as 5.2% and was on track for its worst day in five months on lower-than-expected quarterly coal and manganese output.
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.3% to 11,699.01.
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