By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 added 25.8 points or 0.34% to 7,518.70 during Monday’s deals, extending gains for the fourth consecutive week as firm commodity prices boosted miners while technology companies slipped.
ASX 200 Futures were flat at 7487.5
Among stocks, materials are outperforming amid rising iron ore prices, with Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) up 1.1%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) adding 0.9%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) gaining 3%, Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) up 4.1%, Arizona Lithium Ltd (ASX:AZL) surging 16.7% and Avz Minerals Ltd (ASX:AVZ) up 4.2%. Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX:LTR) soared 11.3% while Iluka Resources Ltd (ASX:ILU) added 4.1% after approving a final investment decision on its rare earths refinery.
Utilities were also 0.5% higher as APA Group (ASX:APA) gained 0.7%, AGL Energy Ltd (ASX:AGL) up 1.2% and Origin Energy Ltd (ASX:ORG) lifting 0.5%.
Meantime, Information Technology was 0.2% lower overall, as Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) fell 1.7%, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) dipped 0.9%, Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX:BRN) lost 2.1% and Wisetech Global Ltd (ASX:WTC) fell 0.4% while Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) gained 0.2%, Altium Ltd (ASX:ALU) lifted 0.5% and Computershare Ltd. (ASX:CPU) gained 0.6%.
Perpetual Ltd (ASX:PPT) has paused trading just after the open after the company announced a bid for Pendal Group Ltd (ASX:PDL) worth $A2.4 billion.
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 added 0.2% to 12,114.