PERTH: The Australian stocks was more than 1 per cent higher at noon, buoyed by a strong rally in resources stocks after the prices of iron ore and oil rebounded overnight.
At 12.05pm (AEDT), the benchmark S & P/ASX200 index gained 69.4 points, or 1.19 per cent, to 5,914.2, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 67.7 points, or 1.16 per cent, at 5,888.
The sharemarket was also following gains on Wall Street, where the Nasdaq index smashed a 15-year-old record high set at the peak of the dotcom boom in 2000.
On a quiet day, with an absence of any market-moving economic data, volumes on the local sharemarket were exaggerated due to the options expiry.
Resources stocks were leading the charge on the local market at noon.
Mining stocks were surging as the price of iron ore traded near a one-month high after extending its streak of sessions without a loss to six.
