Australian shares rose on Monday, with most sectors in the green and heavyweight financials at the helm of gains, while investors awaited local inflation data due later in the week.
The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.9% to 8,039.5 points by 0101 GMT, crossing the 8,000 mark after more than seven weeks.
The benchmark ended 0.6% higher on Thursday, its last trading day before the ANZAC holiday.
Locally, investors looked ahead to the local inflation print slated to be released on April 30 to gauge the health of the economy and assess the potential impacts of the ongoing global tariffs and trade war on the country.
The data will be a key metric for the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) while deciding the interest rate at its policy meeting on May 19.
As of April 25, 62% of market participants surveyed were pricing in a cash rate cut to 3.60%, according to the RBA Rate Tracker.
The current rate is 4.10%. Rate-sensitive financials rose about 1.3% to the highest since March 3.
The sub-index is set for its eighth straight session of gains.
The “Big Four” banks added between 0.7% and 1.6%.
Australia stocks slide amid global sell-off as trade war escalates
Energy stocks ascended 1.2%, tracking the broader benchmark, with sector-major Woodside Energy up 1.3% and its smaller rival Santos trading 1.9% higher.
Technology stocks rose 2.3% to the highest since March 27, tracking last week’s gains on Wall Street.
However, miners slipped 0.5% as iron ore futures declined due to uncertainties surrounding the Sino-US trade tensions.
The world’s largest rare earth miner outside China, Lynas Rare Earths, jumped more than 3% despite missing market estimates for its third-quarter sales revenue.
Among individual stocks, James Hardie Industries gained more than 2.4% after saying it would hold a shareholder vote before making any changes to its Australia listing status.
New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.8% to 12,110.45 points.
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