Australian stocks rose 0.6 per cent on Monday after confidence was lifted by the promise of a benign local earnings reporting season,enticing investors to snap up banks and miners during weakness early in the session. Rio Tinto rose 1 per cent to A$74 after the global miner reported a record first-half profit last week. Rival BHP Billiton also gained 1 per cent to A$41.55. "There's an expectation of a reasonable reporting season. We're yet to see all of the results but there's an anticipation,because we've not had a lot of negative surprises from this reporting season so far," said Macquarie private wealth division director Martin Lakos. Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 28.8 points to 4,594.9. The top four banks all rose,partly helped by Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd which advanced 4.5 per cent to A$8.64 after revealing net profit rose 23 per cent in the year to June and improved margins. "That's helping the rest of the bank sector recover. It looks fairly broad based. All the leaders are picking up," said Lakos. Still to come this week are earnings updates from National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank,as well as results from Qantas Airways and Telstra Corp. Investors were also speculating over whether the US Federal Reserve was considering new stimulus measures to sustain the US economic recovery. Shares of AXA Asia Pacific surged 5.4 per cent to A$5.49 after Australia's competition regulator agreed to consult the market on National Australia Bank's proposed $12 billion takeover of the firm. Whitehaven Coal rose 3.8 per cent to A$6.36 after the Australian newspaper said US companies First Reserve and Alpha Natural Resources were considering a possible $2.75 billion buyout of the coal miner. Elders rose 15.8 per cent to A$0.585 after Rural Bank,in which Elders has a 40 per cent stake,said net profit rose 23 per cent in the year to June. Mirvac Industrial Trust fell 8 per cent after failing to repay a $123.5 million CMBS loan facility which matured on August 7. Property trust Mirvac Group,which fell 2.2 per cent to A$1.33,said its earnings or balance sheet for the 2010 financial year would not be affected. JB Hi-Fi Ltd,an Australian electronics and home entertainment retailer,fell 0.5 per cent to A$19.45. It said fiscal 2011 sales would rise 17 per cent to around A$3.2 billion,slightly below market expectations. Eastern Star Gas Ltd revealed plans to raise A$100 million in capital by offering institutional investors 122 million new shares at A$0.82. The stock last traded at 91.5 cents before a halt. Mantle Mining shot up from A$0.03 TO A$0.053,a 77 per cent rise,after signing an agreement for the development of a coal project in Victoria state which it said could contain an exploration target of more than a billion tonnes of brown coal. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index firmed 0.3 per cent to 3054.5.
