Australia S&P/ASX200 end higher

The Australian market closed higher on Monday, 08 March 2021, with materials and consumer staple stocks leading the gainers, as investors sentiment was supported by rallies on Wall Street last Friday after better-than-expected key US jobs data and U.S. stimulus cheer. At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 added 28.73 points, or 0.43%, to 6,739.57. The broader All Ordinaries rose 28.70 points, or 0.41%, to 6,971.65.

The U.S. Senate on Saturday passed President Joe Biden's COVID-19 relief plan, one of the largest stimulus bills in U.S. history, a day after data showed that the U.S. economy created more jobs than expected in February.

 

Over the weekend, Australia also started vaccinating its citizens against the coronavirus with AstraZeneca's vaccine. Inoculation with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine had started in February.

Shares of materials and resources finished stronger. Mining heavyweights BHP and Rio Tinto gained 2.4% and 2.9%, respectively, while gold miner Evolution Mining added 1.8% and Newcrest advanced 2.7%. Origin Energy climbed 1.8% and Oil Search rallied 3.4% as oil prices surged after an attack on the world's largest refinery in Saudi Arabia.

Treasury Wine Estates spiked 6.4% on the buzz that European drinks giant Pernod Ricard was interested in the company.

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