Australian shares extended their record-breaking spree to a fifth session on Monday, mainly driven by mining stocks that gained on strong metal prices.
The S&P/ASX 200 index <.AXJO> touched a fresh peak of 7,092.50 points before paring some gains to finish at 7,079.50, a new record closing high.
The benchmark, which crossed the 7,000 threshold in one of the sessions last week, had capped a weekly gain of about 2%, aided chiefly by the positive sentiment around the midweek sealing of the Phase 1 Sino-U.S. trade deal.
The heavyweight Metals and Mining index <.AXMM> contributed most to the benchmark gains, tacking on 1.4%, as copper futures <CMCU3> hovered around an eight-month high and Dalian iron ore futures <DCIOcv1> touched their highest level since Jan.9.
The world's biggest miner BHP Ltd <BHP.AX> gained 1.6% to scale a near six-month high, a day ahead of its quarterly production results.
Another diversified global miner, Rio Tinto <RIO.AX>, closed up 0.9%, while iron ore-focused player Fortescue Metals Group <FMG.AX> put on about 3.7% to finish at a record close.
Meanwhile, stronger oil prices buoyed energy stocks <.AXEJ> with the sub-index snapping two sessions of losses to close 0.4% higher.
Oil prices rose to their highest in more than a week after two large crude production bases in Libya began shutting down amid a military blockade, setting the stage for crude flows from the OPEC member to be cut to a trickle. [O/R]
Beach Energy <BPT.AX> gained 3.6% and was the top percentage gainer on the energy sub-index.
However, the Financials index <.AXFJ> edged down, finishing about 0.1% lower with health insurer NIB Holdings Ltd <NFH.AX> becoming the top percentage loser in the index.
NIB slumped about 13% after it forecasted its full year 2020 underlying profit to fall from its pervious expectations.
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index <.NZ50> closed about 0.5% lower at 11,746.95.
Software solutions provider Gentrack Group Ltd <GTK.NZ> was the top percentage loser on the benchmark, slipping 13.6% to an over three-year low, after it forecast "difficult market conditions" that have affected its sales pipeline to a greater degree than expected.
(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
