By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 added 17.90 points or 0.25% to 7,093 during Monday’s trade, lifting from near 4-month lows touched in the previous week but retracing earlier gains as Chinese industrial output contracted at a faster pace than expected.
Among stocks, Industrials were the most improved, up 2.4% collectively with Brambles Ltd (ASX:BXB) surging 11.2% after confirming that it has received takeover interest from private equity group CVC Capital.
Information Technology gained 2.1% as Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) lifted 3.8%, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) gained 3.9%, Link Administration Holdings Ltd (ASX:LNK) lifted 1.1%, Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) added 3.3%, Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) increased 4.4% and Altium Ltd (ASX:ALU) lifted 2.6%.
Financials added 0.5% overall, with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) up 0.8%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) lifting 0.6%, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) up 1.6% and Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) gaining 1%, while Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) fell 1.9%.
Meantime, Materials fell 0.5% with Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) falling 1.1%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) down 1.2%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) falling 2.2%, Avz Minerals Ltd (ASX:AVZ) down 7.1% and European Lithium Ltd (ASX:EUR) dipping 3.8%.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were at 3.381% while United States 10-Year yields were at 2.895%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 dipped 0.1% to 11,158.