Australian stocks are firmer at noon, with the banks and miners leading the broader market higher.
The local market opened the new trading week up about 0.75 per cent and extended gains through the morning, as investors took their cues from a positive finish on Wall Street where stocks posted fresh highs over the weekend.
Lonsec senior client adviser Michael Heffernan said the strong performance of offshore markets - major Europe bourses also chalked up healthy gains - supported the morning rally in the absence of any significant local news.
"It is an international-fuel injection," Mr Heffernan said.
"We are firing on very strong external leads."
The big retail banks were more than one per cent firmer, with ANZ up 34 cents at $30.60, CBA 89 cents higher at $74.10, NAB 41 cents stronger at $33.50 and Westpac up 48 cents at $31.83.
Meanwhile, BHP had risen 59 cents to $35.00 and Rio had climbed 52 cents to $55.81.
Only two sectors were down at noon. Gold stocks had fallen 1.6 per cent, while telecommunications companies were down 0.1 per cent.
Making news on Monday, construction giant Leighton reaffirmed earnings guidance for 2013, with underlying net profit forecast to be a range between $520 million and $600 million and gearing levels expected to fall to 25 to 35 per cent.
Leighton was up 85 cents, or 4.72 per cent, at $18.86. In percentage terms Leighton had risen the most among all stocks on the S&P/ASX100.
Australia's second largest telco Optus will expand its latest 4G mobile network to 70 per cent of the country's metropolitan population by the middle of 2014.
Its parent company, Singapore Telecommunications, was up 2.5 cents at $3.305 in local trading.
The company is listed in both Australia and Singapore.
KEY FACTS
* At 1201 AEST, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 61.9 points, or 1.19 per cent, at 5,242.7 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 58.4 points, or 1.13 per cent, at 5,218.2 points.
* On ASX 24, the June share price index futures contract was up 57 points at 5,250 points, with 13,873 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 707.6 million securities worth $1.5 billion.
