The Australian sharemarket has surged in its first session of the week, drawing strong momentum from US markets and bringing the index within 40 points of the record closing high achieved last month.
At 11:45am, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.32 per cent higher at 8,240.90.
The SPI futures are pointing to a gain of 23 points.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector is Healthcare, up 0.8 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Energy, down 0.77 per cent.
The best-performing large cap is South32 Ltd (ASX:S32), trading 1.74 per cent higher at $11.09. It is followed by shares in James Hardie Industries plc (ASX:JHX) and Seek Ltd (ASX:SEK).
The worst-performing large cap is Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX:MIN), trading 1.67 per cent lower at $50.09. It is followed by shares in Ampol Ltd
(ASX:ALD) and Santos Ltd (ASX:STO).
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$2665.10 an ounce.
Iron ore is 1.8 per cent higher at US$106.15 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a 2.22 per cent rise.
One Australian dollar is buying 67.34 US cents.