(Reuters) - Australian shares finished higher on Monday, with broad-based gains driven by stronger commodity prices, financials stocks and optimism around U.S. tax reform.
Top U.S. Republicans said on Sunday they expected Congress to pass a tax code overhaul this week, with a Senate vote as early as Tuesday and President Donald Trump aiming to sign the bill by week's end.
The S&P/ASX 200 index <.AXJO> rose 0.7 percent or 41.9 points to 6,038.9 at the close of trade, ending a two-day losing streak. The benchmark declined 0.2 percent on Friday.
Financials led the upward march of the index, with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd <ANZ.AX> accounting for most of the gains, rising 2.1 percent after it said it would start buying back up to A$1.5 billion ($1.15 billion) of its shares on-market.
Chinese steel futures rebounded from a one-week low on Friday boosting materials, with the Australian metals and mining index <.AXMM> climbing 1.5 percent to its highest since Nov. 27, recording six consecutive days of gains. [MET/L]
Global miner BHP <BHP.AX> rose 2 percent to a 5-week high, while its rival Rio Tinto Ltd <RIO.AX> ticked up 1.2 percent.
Cloud collaboration software provider Aconex Ltd <ACX.AX> was the top performer as its shares skyrocketed 44.2 percent after it received a A$1.56 billion ($1.19 billion), buyout offer from U.S. software major Oracle Corp <ORCL.N>.
Advancing issues on the benchmark outnumbered declining ones 1.37-to-1.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index <.NZ50> fell 0.2 percent or 16.71 points to finish the session at 8,344.150.
Consumer confidence in New Zealand fell for the third month in a row in December as consumers braced for an economic slowdown, a survey showed on Monday.
Contact Energy Ltd <CEN.NZ> and Spark New Zealand Ltd <SPK.NZ> were the biggest drags on the index, down 3.6 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.
(Reporting by Aditya Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Sam Holmes)
