Australian shares round out September with fresh record

The Australian share market has ended September with a fresh record as the local currency hit a 19-month high.

The S&P/ASX200 on Monday climbed as high as 8,285.7, eclipsing its previous intraday record of 8,246.2 set on September 20.

It finished the day at 8,269.8, up 57.6 points, or 0.7 per cent from Friday's close - its previous highest-ever close.

Moomoo analyst Jessica Amir said September had brought out the bulls despite traditionally being the weakest month for stocks.

The ASX200 finished the month up 2.2 per cent after being essentially flat in August.

The rally has been supported by gains in the price of iron ore and other commodity metals following China's announcement last week of massive stimulus measures to revive its lagging economy.

Iron ore futures on the Singapore exchange soared 8.2 per cent to $US110.50 a tonne on Monday, helping boost the mining sector by another 1.8 per cent.

Fortescue rose 2.9 per cent to $20.68, BHP added 2.7 per cent to $45.96 and Rio Tinto gained 1.3 per cent to $129.13.

Goldminers were mostly lower however even as the precious metal traded near a record high of $US2,659 an ounce.

Newmont dropped 2.8 per cent, Evolution fell 1.1 per cent and Northern Star retreated 1.6 per cent.

The energy sector was the biggest gainer, rising 2.6 per cent, possibly responding to the threat of a broader Middle East war impacting oil supplies after Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Woodside gained 3.5 per cent and Santos added 2.6 per cent.

Three of the big four banks finished in the green, with CBA rising 0.9 per cent to $135.39, NAB gaining 1.1 per cent to $37.35 and ANZ edging 0.1 per cent higher at $30.48.

Westpac dipped 0.3 per cent to $31.72.

Elsewhere, Star Entertainment Group rose 18 per cent to 29.5 cents, clawing back some of Friday's 44.4 per cent plunge.

Fletcher Building rose six per cent to $2.65 after the Kiwi home builder completed the sale of its Australian plumbing supplies and distribution business to a private Australian company.

The sale of Tradelink to Metal Manufacturers Pty has netted Fletcher $A160 million, with another $10 million payment possible.

At the smaller end of town, Cann Group rocketed 58.3 per cent to a nine-month high of 9.5 cents, giving the medical marijuana producer a market cap of $44.5 million.

In response to an ASX price query, Cann had no particular explanation for why its shares were suddenly soaring, mentioning an 11-day-old investor presentation as one possibility.

In currency, the Australian dollar had climbed as far as 69.41 US cents on Monday afternoon, its highest level against its US counterpart since February 2023.

Close to 5pm, the Aussie was buying 69.33 US cents, from 68.86 US cents at Friday's ASX close.

The Aussie broached 69 US cents briefly a few times late last week but otherwise in the past two years it has only traded above that level from mid-January to mid-February of 2023.

IG analyst Tony Sycamore said it had been a September to remember for the Aussie, crediting the rise to actions from the two most powerful central banks in the world.

The US Federal Reserve a week and a half ago enacted a "jumbo" interest rate cut, while the People's Bank of China last week announced the aforementioned stimulus actions to revive China's ailing economy.

Looking forward, the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday will report retail sales data for August that could prove influential as the Reserve Bank ponders when to cut rates

ON THE ASX:

* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Monday up 57.6 points, or 0.7 per cent, at 8,269.8.

* The All Ordinaries gained 61.6 points, or 0.73 per cent, at 8,538.4.

CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:

One Australian dollar buys:

* 69.33 US cents, up from 68.86 US cents at Friday's ASX close

* 94.46 Japanese yen, from 98.65 Japanese yen

* 62.11 euro cents, from 61.76 euro cents

* 51.78 British pence, from 51.43 pence

* 108.91 NZ cents, from 109.14 NZ cents