ASX 200 up by 0.4% on broad-based gains; Beforepay tanks 43.7% on debut

ASX lifts 0.3 per cent on consumer discretionary and energy gains. Beforepay dives 43.7 per cent on debut, Pendal surges 7.8 per cent on new chair and BHP shifts unification vote.

Australian shares may be in for a volatile session with US market closed on Monday. Photo: Nikki Short/ NCA NewsWire

Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Monday, January 17. ASX rallied higher on Monday as consumer discretionary and energy stocks posted strong gains. It comes as Beforepay tanks 44 per cent on debut as Pendal rebounds from Friday's slump after naming a new chair. 

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.3 per cent or 23.4 points to 7417.3. The All Ordinaries index was also higher by 0.3 per cent to 7739.3.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.6 per cent on Friday, while the S&P 500 rose 0.1 per cent and tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.6 per cent as markets started to recover in late afternoon trade. US markets are closed Monday for Martin Luther King Jr day.

Iron ore traded 0.9 per cent lower to $US126.75 a tonne, while the US Nymex crude price rallied 2.6 per cent to $US84.27 a barrel.