By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 added 29.70 points or 0.40% to 7,472.70 in Monday’s morning deals, following a slight decline of 0.2% in the previous week as investors moved away from risk-sensitive assets amid growing fears of persistent inflation and a sustained lift in bond yields.
ASX 200 Futures were 0.26% higher.
Among stocks, gold miners gained as the precious metal trades at 5-month highs, with Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX:EVN) up 1.43% , Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX:NST) adding 1.7% and Chalice Gold Mines Ltd (ASX:CHN) up 2.45%. Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX:NCM) also added 0.55%. Heavyweight banks were mixed as Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) fell 0.26%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) dipped 2.18% and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) lost 0.25%, while Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) added 0.4%. Meantime, Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB) added 5% after the biotech company announced the results from a phase three trial of rexlemestrocel-L in treating chronic heart failure.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were at 1.786%, while United States 10-Year yields were at 1.566%.
Ahead in the week, market participants will be closely monitoring the RBA’s minutes from its latest monetary policy meeting as well as the MI Leading Index and third-quarter Wage Price Index.