Australian share prices closed 0.64 percent higher on Monday with blue chip resources stocks leading the rebound after last week's heavy losses, dealers said.
The rebound came after the market suffered its biggest drop since the days after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States as nervous investors sold off on concerns that US interest rates will continue higher to head of rising inflation. The key S and P/ASX 200 index closed up 28.5 points at 4,469.1, while the broader All Ordinaries index climbed 27.8 points to finish at 4,427.9.
Volumes were modest, with holidays in Japan making for a quieter day, but some 1.19 billion shares worth 3.03 billion dollars (2.31 billion US). Rises outnumbered falls 563 to 429 with 329 stocks unchanged. Stronger than expected employment data from the United States had boosted confidence, Reynolds and Co private client advisor Michael Heffernan said.
"You could say 30 points might have been a bit much today but I think the market will recover from last week's losses - it may take a couple of weeks or even a couple of months," he said.
Mining heavyweights BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, which dropped 8.0 percent and 4.5 percent respectively last week, were both ahead. BHP Billiton gained 0.25 or 1.22 percent to close at 20.72 dollars while Rio Tinto added 0.75 or 1.33 percent to 57.25.
In the gold stocks, Newcrest was 0.04 higher at 19.44 but Lihir fell 0.065 to 1.825 after announcing a landslide had disrupted production at its Lihir Island gold mine in Papua New Guinea.
Woodside Petroleum added 0.90 to 32.84. The major banks were mixed with National Australia Bank losing 0.05 to 32.20 and Commonwealth Bank falling 0.23 to 37.41. ANZ added 0.18 to 23.18 and Westpac gained 0.07 to 20.52. Macquarie Bank pushed 1.11 higher to 70.01.
Among media stocks, News Corp dropped 0.19 to 20.71 and Fairfax fell 0.03 to 4.41.
The major telcos were ahead with Telstra adding 0.04 to 4.08 and SingTel gaining 0.04 to 1.95.
Qantas gained 0.01 to 3.36 but Virgin Blue slipped 0.02 to 1.56.
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