WELLINGTON: Australian shares settled higher on Monday, with tech stocks ending at a record peak while a significant slowdown in fresh daily coronavirus cases fuelled hopes that a deadly second wave may be on the wane. The country's second-most populous state of Victoria reported its smallest daily rise in fresh Covid-19 cases in seven weeks following strict lockdown curbs.

The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.3% to 6,129.60, snapping two straight sessions of losses. Technology stocks jumped 3.2%, tracking the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite's record finish on Friday.

Afterpay, the biggest stock on the sub-index, advanced 4.8% after the buy-now-pay later firm said it would acquire Spain-based Pagantis and expand into Europe. Heavyweight miners tacked on 0.6%, with Fortescue Metals Group and BHP Group adding 3.2% and 0.6%, respectively.

Top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia eased 1%, making it the biggest loser among financials. The rest of the "Big Four" banks also ended lower. New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index climbed 0.7% to finish the session at 11,921.07. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern extended a coronavirus lockdown in Auckland until the end of the week in a bid to enable the country to gradually rollback its scale of emergency restrictions.