By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 lifted 26.30 points or 0.38% to 7,024.10 during Monday’s midday deals, with investors tracking a strong rebound in U.S. equities on Friday, while investors reacted as the EU, UK, US and Canada imposed crippling sanctions on the Russian financial sector over the weekend.
ASX 200 Futures were pointing 0.16% lower.
Among stocks, Energy companies were strongest, lifting 1.25% as Ukrainian geopolitical tensions boosted Oil prices to near 7-year highs.
Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX:WPL) was up 2.43%, Santos Ltd (ASX:STO) added 1.96%, Beach Energy Ltd (ASX:BPT) gained 0.66% and Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX:VEA) climbed 0.83%.
Materials were 0.81% higher, Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) added 2.08%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) lifted 2.3%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) dropped 4.84% after going ex-dividend, Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) gained 2.24%, Arizona Lithium Ltd (ASX:AZL) lifted 1.74%, Lake Resources NL (ASX:LKE) dipped 3.21%, Magnis Resources Ltd (ASX:MNS) dipped 1.22% and Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX:LYC) gained 1.88%.
Technology shares fell 0.45% collectively, with Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) down 3.74%, Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX:BRN) falling 2.47%, Altium Ltd (ASX:ALU) down 3.3%, Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) dropping 3.46%, while Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) added 2.26%.
Zip Co Ltd (ASX:Z1P) shares went into a trading halt early in the session after releasing results, undertaking a $198.7 million capital raising in order to acquire rival BNPL provider Sezzle Inc (ASX:SZL).
Financials were 0.73% lower, as Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) lost 1.36%, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) dipped 0.34%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) lost 0.93%, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) fell 0.13% and Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) lost 0.4%.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year yields were at 2.166% while United States 10-Year rates were at 1.901%.
In new Zealand the NZX 50 was just 0.04% higher at 11,928.