The Australian stock market is trading notably higher on Monday with investors picking up stocks, tracking cues from Wall Street where stocks posted strong gains on Friday on the back of some strong economic data from China and on buoyant earnings results from JPMorgan.
Mining, energy, financial, industrial and information technology stocks are mostly up with strong gains.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index, which advanced to 4,126.9, is currently trading at 4,118, up 35.8 points or 0.9 percent from its previous close. The broader All Ordinaries index is up 35.3 points or 0.9 percent at 4,153.6.
In the mining space, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals are up 1.5 to 2 percent and Newcrest Mining is trading higher by over 3 percent.
Among energy stocks, Woodside Petroleum and Oil Search are up 1.8 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively. Santos is up 0.8 percent and Origin Energy is adding about 0.7 percent, while Caltex Australia is up marginally.
Among bank stocks, ANZ Bank and Westpac are trading more than a percent up each, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank are up 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively. Bendigo & Adelaide Bank is gaining 1.6 percent and Bank of Queensland is trading 1.8 percent up.
Bluescope Steel is gaining more than 5 percent, Arrium is trading 4 percent up, Regis Resources is adding nearly 4 percent and Beach Energy is up with a gain of 3.7 percent.
Boart Longyear, Atlas Iron, Iluka Resources, Oz Minerals, Perseus Mining, QR National and Lynas Corporation are trading higher by 2 to 3 percent.
Sims Metal Management, Campbell Brothers, QBE Insurance Group, Seek, AMP and David Jones are also up with impressive gains.
Seven West Media is set to announce details of a capital raising believed to be worth about A$450 million. Seven West Media shares are currently under a trading halt.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Malaysia, New Zealand and South Korea are up marginally. The Japanese market is closed for Marine Day holiday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved up sharply on Friday with traders reacting positively to some positive economic data from China and JPMorgan's strong quarterly results.
The Dow jumped 203.8 points or 1.6 percent to 12,777.1, the Nasdaq surged up 42.3 points or 1.5 percent to 2,908.5 and the S&P 500 soared 22 points or 1.7 percent to 1,356.8.
Major European markets too ended notably higher. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index advanced by 1 percent, the French CAC 40 index and the German DAX index gained 1.5 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices ended higher on Friday, on encouraging economic data from China. Crude for August delivery surged $1.02 to close at $87.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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