The Australian sharemarket climbed at the open, buoyed by a strong session on Wall Street and a jump in the oil price as Iran continued to crackdown on protests sweeping across the country.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 24.7 points, or 0.3%, to 8742.5 by 10:09am. Investors took their lead from Wall Street, with S&P 500 Index resetting a record after a benign US jobs report.
On the ASX, energy stocks extended gains after Brent crude surged more than 5% on Thursday and Friday to over $US63 a barrel as the political unrest in Iran raised the possibility of supply disruptions in Iran.
Woodside 1.6%, Santos 0.7% and Beach Energy 2.1%.
The biggest gainer on the ASX was Light & Wonder, which soared 20% at the open of trading. Light & Wonder will pay Aristocrat $US127.5 million after settling litigation claims Light & Wonder used Aristocrat’s trade secrets and copyrighted material in its Dragon Train and Jewel of the Dragon games. Aristocrat was little changed.
