By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 added 70.3 points or 1% to 6,964.5 during Monday’s trade, extending last weeks gains of 1% and closing at 7-week highs as investors proved optimistic following a strong lead among U.S. equities.
Among stocks, Materials led the gains amid higher iron ore and Nickel prices. Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) added 1.8%, BHP Group Ltd (ASX:BHP) lifted 3.5%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) added 3.3% and Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) gained 2.2%.
Consumer Discretionary gained 1.5% with JB Hi-Fi Ltd (ASX:JBH) up 3.8%, Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX:DMP) gaining 4.4%, Tabcorp Holdings Ltd (ASX:TAH) up 1.1% and Aristocrat Leisure Ltd (ASX:ALL) adding 1.3%.
Information Technology closed 1.5% higher as Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) gained 4.9%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) lifted 4%, Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX:BRN) added 0.5%, Computershare Ltd. (ASX:CPU) added 1.8% and Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) lifted 0.9%.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were at 3.652%, while United States 10-Year yields were at 3.331%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 55.4 points or 0.5% to 11,813.2.