Australian shares rose 0.5 percent on Monday led by financials as Wall Street set record highs last week, but weaker metal prices hit mining companies. Blue chip miners BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd dropped 0.8 percent and 2 percent respectively as metals reacted to data from China showing factory output and consumer spending were weaker than forecast.
Financials were firmer, with National Australia Bank jumping 1.7 percent. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose 0.4 percent to trade at $A70.13, an all time high. Westpac Banking Corp finished the session flat. "The ASX 200 has nudged through last week's high and printed a fresh high, despite another day of underperformance in the materials space," said Stan Shamu, market strategist at IG Markets.
The S&P/ASX 200 index finished the day 23.5 points higher at 5,146.9, hitting a fresh 4-1/2 year high. The index rose 0.3 percent on Friday. The benchmark is up 10.7 percent for the year so far as the Australian share market enjoys a bull run on strong earnings and investor optimism in the global economy. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index closed the session 0.3 percent or 12.5 points higher to an all-time high of 4,366.6.
Gold miners were moderately stronger. Newcrest Mining Ltd inched up 0.3 percent while Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd surged 9.4 percent. Gold edged up on Monday, off a two week low hit in the previous session, on better-than-expected US jobs data, as the Federal Reserve is expected to continue to prop up the economy through 2013 with monetary stimulus, giving support to gold. Defensives were strong, Coles-owner Wesfarmers Ltd rose 0.5 percent while Woolworths Ltd jumped 1 percent to record highs. Blood products maker CSL Ltd rallied 0.7 percent.
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