The Australian sharemarket started the week firmly higher on Monday, tracking gains across Asia after moderate Democrat senators agreed to support a deal to reopen the United States government.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 66.2 points, or 0.75%, to 8,835.9, with nine of the eleven sectors finishing in positive territory.
Information technology stocks led the advance following last week’s selloff. WiseTech Global rallied 6.2%, Life360 gained 3.6%, Xero lifted 1%, and Codan added 1.4%.
Energy stocks also strengthened as Brent crude rose above US$64 a barrel on hopes the U.S. government would soon reopen, lifting demand expectations.
Woodside rose 0.9%, and Santos lifted 0.8%.
Mining heavyweights were mixed, with BHP flat, Rio Tinto up 0.6%, and Fortescue down 0.8%.
Lithium and uranium miners were among the best performers on the ASX, as Liontown Resources popped 12.8%, Deep Yellow added 9.6%, Pilbara Minerals gained 9.2%, and Paladin Energy finished 7.9% higher.
Gold miners gained after the precious metal jumped 1.1% to US$4,043.77 an ounce.
Northern Star, Newmont, and Evolution Mining closed 3.5%, 3.9% and 2.2% higher, respectively.
Among financials, ANZ climbed 3.2% despite reporting a weaker cash profit and missing analyst expectations.
Westpac rose 1.4%, while Commonwealth Bank and NAB slipped 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively.
In corporate updates, Iress soared 6.6% after launching a business efficiency program aimed at lifting profit margins from 19% to 25% and reaffirming its FY25 guidance.
Dyno Nobel jumped 7.8% as it narrowed its statutory net loss to $53 million for FY25, from $311 million a year earlier, amid progress in its transformation into a pure-play explosives business.
Engineering contractor Monadelphous Group surged 11% after reporting a stronger-than-expected trading update, forecasting half-year revenue of $1.5 billion on robust demand across construction, energy, and infrastructure.
DroneShield pared early gains to end 1.2% higher after clarifying that its previously announced $7.6 million U.S. government order did not represent a new contract.
On the bond markets, yields edged higher, with the 10-year rate up 1.2% to 4.403% and the 2-year rising 1.8% to 3.639%.
