SYDNEY/WELLINGTON: Australian shares scaled a fresh nine-month high on Monday as a red-hot rally in iron ore prices showed no signs of easing and lifted heavyweight mining stocks for a fifth straight session. The S&P/ASX 200 index settled higher 0.6% at 6,675, after having earlier climbed as much as 1.2% to its highest since Feb. 27.

Mining stocks hit their highest since April 2011, adding about 10% in the past five sessions, as iron ore prices rose further driven by supply concerns and robust demand in China. Fortescue Metals Group scaled a fresh peak, while BHP Group and Rio Tinto touched their highest since April 2011 and May 2008, respectively.

Among individual stocks, retailer Metcash Ltd led gains on the benchmark after posting a jump in first-half underlying profit after tax. Energy stocks gained up to 2.2%, with Santos Ltd adding 3.8% on a 10-year agreement to supply liquefied natural gas from its Barossa project to a unit of Japan's Mitsubishi Corp.

Financial stocks underperformed the broader rally as regulatory woes continued for banks. New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.2% to close at 12,631.38.