By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The ASX 200 closed higher on Monday, adding 9.90 points or 0.27% to 7,513.70 and closing near fresh 13-week highs amid strong gains from utility companies, while the materials sector was buoyed as commodity prices remained strong.
Among stocks, Utilities lifted 1.1% collectively as APA Group (ASX:APA) gained 0.8%, AGL Energy Ltd (ASX:AGL) added 2.8% and Origin Energy Ltd (ASX:ORG) lifted 0.6%.
Miners put in a solid performance as Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) added 0.3%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) gained 0.1%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) added 3%, Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) increased 5.5%, Arizona Lithium Ltd (ASX:AZL) rallied 33.3% and Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX:LTR) popped 9%. Gold miners also rose with St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM) up 1.1%, Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX:NCM) adding 0.9%, Perseus Mining Ltd (ASX:PRU) up 2.2%, Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX:MIN) up 3.4% and Chalice Gold Mines Ltd (ASX:CHN) gaining 4%
Financials retreated 0.3% as Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) fell 0.2%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) lost 0.8%, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) fell 0.2% and Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) lost 0.77%.
Meantime, Pendal Group Ltd (ASX:PDL) soared 18.1% after Perpetual lobbed an $A2.4 billion bid at the rival asset manager. Perpetual Ltd (ASX:PPT) fell 6.6%
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates eased to 2.834% while United States 10-Year yields were at 2.404%
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 dipped 0.3% to 12,053.