The Australian stockmarket has started the week higher, buoyed by iron ore producers as the price of the resource spiked.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed up 15.3 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 6190.5 points at 1615 AEDT on Monday, while the broader All Ordinaries was up 18.5 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 6283.6.
The mining sector was up a collective 1.09 per cent, with Fortescue Metals the biggest gainer among the ASX200. It was up 5.48 per cent to $6.835, a two-year high.
"It's been one of the best turnaround stories again, for a second time," Blue Equities analyst Mathan Somasundaram said of the world's fourth-largest iron ore producer.
On Friday a court in Brazil ordered Vale to suspend operations at its Timbopeba mine, which produces 12.8 million tonnes of iron ore per year, driving the price of the commodity higher.
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Four per cent of the world's iron ore production has been taken offline since the deadly January 25 Brumadinho dam disaster, and the price of the lower-grade ore that Fortescue mostly produces is at a multi-year high.
Mining giant BHP was up 1.37 per cent, to $36.98, while Rio Tinto was up 1.66 per cent to $93.17.
Utilities and telecom shares led decliners, with both sectors down a little over half a percentage point.
"There isn't a lot of sentiment in the market," said Mr Somasundaram. "It's waiting for a catalyst to move in either direction."
Commonwealth Bank was down 0.69 per cent, to $71.81, after the bank said it would end its long-running dispute with the Australian Taxation Office over a rejected application for a research and development rebate.
ANZ was up 0.23 per cent, to $26.41, and Westpac moved up 0.15 per cent, to $26.52, while NAB lost 0.36 per cent, to $25.12.
REA Group, which owns realestate.com.au, was down 4.38 per cent while rival Domain Holdings was down 1.15 per cent.
Bubs was up 4.76 per cent after the goat milk formula maker announced it was expanding its range of children's snacks.
IOOF was flat despite being the subject of a class action over its alleged failure to tell shareholders about the regulator's interest in possible breaches of superannuation laws.
Telco Telstra was flat, while pharma giant CSL was up 0.44 per cent.
The Aussie dollar is buying 71.12 US cents, from 70.84 US cents on Friday.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 15.3 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 6190.5 points at 1630 AEDT on Friday.
* The All Ordinaries was up 18.5 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 6283.6.
* At 1630 AEDT, the SPI200 futures index was flat at 6191.
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1630 AEDT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 71.12 US cents, from 70.84 US on Friday
* 79.33 Japanese yen, from 79.12
* 62.75 euro cents, from 62.60
* 53.52 British pence, from 53.50
* 103.60 NZ cents, from 103.44
