Australia: Shares track Wall Street higher, bullion shines

[BENGALURU] Australian stocks edged higher on Monday, as markets caught the tailwind from a bounce on Wall Street after investors tempered fears of inflationary pressure, while strong commodity prices lifted local miners and gold shares.

The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.2 per cent at 7,188.6 points by 0028 GMT, after closing 1.2 per cent higher at a record peak on Friday.

Sentiment was helped by Wall Street's higher finish on Friday as investors shrugged off a stronger-than-expected inflation reading.

Gold stocks rose 1.6 per cent to lead gains as the bullion popped above the US$1,900 mark after data showed US consumer prices surged in April and boosted bullion's appeal as an inflation hedge.

Gold miners Newcrest Mining and Northern Star Resources added 1.5 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively.

Mining stocks added 0.7 per cent, with index heavyweights Rio Tinto, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals all rising between 0.4 per cent and 1.6 per cent.

Iron ore futures had closed firmer on Friday after top steel producer China's statements on steel output plans sparked worries of a tight supply.

Banking stocks were up 0.2 per cent, with the "big four" lenders gaining between 0.1 per cent to 0.2 per cent.

Bucking the trend, energy stocks lost nearly 1.3 per cent even as oil prices ended at two-year peaks on Friday.

Software firm Nuix shed 13 per cent to hit a record low and lead losses on the benchmark on slashing its full-year revenue forecast.

Link Administration Holdings, PEXA's largest shareholder, fell 4.9 per cent after the company said it would take the online real estate firm public instead of accepting KKR & Co's takeover bid for the unit.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.4 per cent to 12,228.37 points with cancer diagnostics firm Pacific Edge being the top performer on the bourse.

In other markets, Japan's Nikkei was down 0.3 per cent at 29,065.02 and S&P 500 E-minis futures were up 4.8 points, or 0.11 per cent.