PERTH: The Australian sharemarket has been driven higher by materials stocks, as resource investors take heart from China’s latest monetary easing.
At 12.05pm (AEDT), the benchmark S & P/ASX200 index was up 23.4 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 5375 while the broader All Ordinaries had gained 23.8 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 5411.9.
Materials stocks were leading the gains in the wake of the People’s Bank of China’s decision on Friday night to slash interest rates and reserve requirements on the country’s banks. The interest rate move is the sixth cut to benchmark rates there in 12 months, with Beijing on edge about slowing growth.
Wall Street bounced 1 per cent higher while euro markets jumped nearly 3 per cent on Friday.
The Chinese stimulus announcement has, for miners, more than offset another fall in iron ore, with the resource down 1 per cent to $US50.90 in its most recent session — its ninth straight decline.
There has been no major economic news today, with all eyes looking forward to midweek inflation figures being released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which may determine whether the Reserve Bank of Australia eases local rates further.
In Australia, the market on Friday rose sharply as investors anticipated further economic stimulus from the European Central Bank later this year.
