A burst of merger activity helped push Australian share prices to fresh record highs on Monday, with the key market index gaining nearly one percent, dealers said.
More solid rises in leading resources stocks, including BHP Billiton which traded to record highs, were also key drivers behind the market's rise, they said.
The benchmark SP/ASX 200 index jumped 48.0 points to at an all-time high of 5,088.1, surpassing Friday's record close of 5,040.1.
The broader All Ordinaries Index also added 43.5 points to 5,045.1, its high for the day and beating the previous record of 5,001.6 also set on Friday.
A total of 1.39 billion shares worth 4.61 billion dollars (3.27 billion US) changed hands, with rises outnumbering falls 666 to 480 while 318 closed steady.
Dealers said a weaker Australian dollar combined with jumps in oil, gold and copper prices to push the resources sector higher.
BHP Billiton ended up 0.86 dollars or 3.32 percent at 26.78, its high for the day and beating the previous record high set in late January. The announcements of friendly scrip-based mergers between exchange operators Australian Stock Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange (SFE) Corp, as well as gaming and wagering groups Tattersall's and UniTab, also helped propel the market to new peaks.
ASX ended up 2.60 at 35.20 while SFE surged 3.83 to 17.85, Tattersall's rose 0.22 to 3.29 while UniTab jumped 1.78 to 15.71. Dominant gaming and wagering group Tabcorp, fell 0.13 to 14.91.
Macquarie Investment Management equities advisor Joseph Youssef said resource stocks continued to be in demand because of advances in commodity prices, while a weaker Australian dollar also helped the sector.
The SP/ASX 200 smashed through the psychologically important 5,000 barrier last Monday and so far has shown little sign of losing its forward momentum.
National Australia Bank market economists said in a market note that the share market was not particularly overvalued by traditional measures.
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