Australian shares, which have fallen the past six sessions, added 0.6 percent early on Monday, raising hopes the longest losing streak since December can end, thanks to a jump on Wall Street and easing tensions in Ukraine.
The S&P and Dow on Friday both posted their best day since March, with the market buoyed by news that Russia was ending military drills near the Ukrainian border, while investors overlooked U.S. air strikes in Iraq.
The top bank by market capitalisation, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, was up 0.4 percent and National Australia Bank gained 0.5 percent. Mid-tier Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd climbed 2.1 percent after reporting its fiscal year net profit after tax jumped 5.7 percent to A$372.3 million. The S&P/ASX 200 index jumped 30.6 points to 5,465.6 by 0217 GMT, bouncing from five-week lows. The market lost 2.2 percent last week, its biggest one-week loss since mid-March.
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