MELBOURNE: Australian shares rose 0.9 percent on Monday, led by miners after global markets gained on relief that growth in China, Australia's top trade partner, had not slowed more than expected.
Shares in Whitehaven Coal soared as much as 21.1 percent on Monday after coal mining magnate Nathan Tinkler offered $5.3 billion to take the company private with support lined up from some key shareholders.
Whitehaven shares opened at A$4.10 and last traded up 17.1 percent at A$4.04, compared with the offer of A$5.20 a share.
Among the big global miners, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto advanced 1.2 percent and 1.5 percent respectively ahead of quarterly production reports due this week.
"Hopefully, they will be strong figures. The market is expecting strong numbers," said Macquarie Equities division director Lucinda Chan of the iron ore component of the production reports.
She said investors on Monday were content to follow strong leads from Europe and Wall Street on the back of the Chinese GDP data released on Friday.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index gained 34.6 points to 4,116.8 at 0015 GMT. The benchmark rose 0.4 percent on Friday, snapping a six-day losing streak after China met forecasts for 7.6 percent GDP growth in the second quarter.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index rose 0.1 percent to 3,498.5.
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