Resource shares led the Australian stock market higher, with Sydney's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 XJO, +0.69% up 0.7% about an hour into Monday trade, tracking strength in some of the commodities markets. The iron-ore shares showed the most dramatic gains, with Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. FMG, +12.67% FSUMF, +13.38% up 6.3%, Mt. Gibson Iron Ltd. MGX, +0.95% up 4.8%, and BC Iron Ltd. BCI, +23.81% up 8.3% as the spot iron-ore price rebounded to $57 a metric ton after having languished below the $50 mark earlier this month. Likewise, BHP Billiton Ltd. BHP, +1.90% BHP, +3.70% was up 1.4%, and Rio Tinto Ltd. RIO, +3.10% RIO, +1.89% was higher by 2.2%. Further improvement for Brent crude-oil futures lifted the energy names, as Woodside Petroleum Ltd. WPL, +1.16% WOPEF, -0.98% rose 1%, Oil Search Ltd. OSH, +1.20% OISHF, +16.67% added 2%, and WorleyParsons Ltd. WOR, +2.95% WYGPF, +6.94% climbed 3.1%. Caltex Australia Ltd. CTX, +0.85% CTXAF, +1.89% lagged its peers, however, after issuing its latest update on refining margins. Elsewhere, stock in AMP Ltd. AMP, +1.04% AMLTF, +3.85% rose 1% after Macquarie lifted both its price target and rating on the shares (to neutral from underperform). Shares of Ten Network TEN, +3.41% sported a 2.4% advance as Foxtel (owned by Telstra Corp. TLS, +0.79% TTRAF, +1.14% and MarketWatch parent News Corp. NWS, -0.51% NWS, -0.19% NWS ) discussed a possible investment in the media company. News Corp. stock was down 0.3%, while that of Telstra rose 0.7%. And stock in Internet companies M2 Group Ltd. MTU, -4.95% and iiNet Ltd. IIN, +12.12% were halted from trade as M2 launched a takeover bid for its rival
source: http://www.marketwatch.com