By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - the S&P/ASX 200 added 22.7 points or 0.3% to 7,384.3 after the first 75 minutes of Monday's trade, extending last week's gains of 0.9% and lifting to fresh 9-week highs as a strong performance from major banks lifted sentiment following stronger than expected earnings results from financial heavyweights JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM), Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) and Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) on Friday.
ASX 200 Futures were pointing 0.2% higher.
Among stocks, Financials lifted 0.9% collectively, with Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) up 1% ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX:ANZ) added 1.6%, Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) lifting 1.1%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) up 1.4% and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) gaining 0.9%.
Meanwhile, materials were down 0.8% as Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO)lost 0.8%, BHP Group Ltd (ASX:BHP) fell 0.9%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) lost 1.4% and Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) fell 0.9%. Gold miners also suffered with Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX:GOR) down 2.2%, Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX:NCM) falling 2.6%, Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX:NST) down 2.9% and Perseus Mining Ltd (ASX:PRU) falling 6%.
Ahead in the week, investors will be closely monitoring upcoming minutes from the RBA's latest policy meeting following last month's pause in interest rate hikes, preliminary manufacturing and services PMI data as well as NAB's quarterly business confidence reading.
Several companies are also scheduled to deliver quarterly updates including Origin Energy Ltd (ASX:ORG), Michael Hill International Ltd (ASX:MHJ), Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO), BHP Group Ltd (ASX:BHP), Stockland Corporation Ltd (ASX:SGP), Brambles Ltd (ASX:BXB), Bank Of Queensland Ltd. (ASX:BOQ) and Woodside Energy Ltd (ASX:WDS).
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were at 3.398%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 was trading flat at 11,888.2.