ASX 200 lifts; Westpac gains on profit jump, Lynas soars as Malaysia licence extended
Energy and miners push ASX to biggest one-day gain in four weeks. Westpac jumps on $4bn profit. Lynas get Malaysia extension. Humm names new CEO. Iron ore below $US100.
Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Monday, May 8. The Australian sharemarket has started the week with a strong bounce following Friday's Wall Street session and as Lynas Rare Earths surged as it gets an extension on its Malaysian operations.
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed up by 0.8 per cent, or 56.50 points, to 7276.50, as energy and materials led 10 of the 11 sectors higher.
Wall Street is expected to open little changed with futures tied to Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq a few points lower following a strong surge on Friday amid an upbeat jobs report.
The dollar is near US67.85c at the close.
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