Aussie share market surges in spite of iron ore price plummet

The Australian share market surged in the morning trade on Monday despite that the spot price of iron ore fell around 7 percent over the weekend.

At 1028 local time AEST, the S&P/ASX200 index was up 31 points or 0.53 percent to sit at 5,893.5 points, while the wider All Ordinaries index was also travelling nicely, up 28.6 points or 0.48 percent at 5,931.2 points.

The spot price of iron ore plunged 7.3 percent over the weekend to 75 U.S. dollars per metric ton, but Steve Daghlian, market analyst at CommSec, told Xinhua that the Australian share market is insulated against losses due to the falling commodity prices.

"The mining stocks are up so it hasn't really affected it, energy sectors are up, and the all important financial sector, which really drives things on the index, is up about half a percent to 1 percent; so we are doing quite well at the moment," Daghlian said.

The banking majors started the day strong, with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia up 0.5 percent, Westpac also made gains, up 0.56 percent, ANZ were strong, up 0.92 percent, while the National Australia Bank also performed well, up 0.65 percent.

In the mining sector, the big players were largely unaffected by the drop in iron prices, with BHP Billiton up 1.02 percent, Rio Tinto up 0.88 percent, Fortescue also rose by 0.98 percent, while Newcrest bucked the trend and dropped off by 0.37 percent.

In oil and gas, Santos was flat for no gain, Oil Search started strong, up 1.08 percent, while Woodside Petroleum were in the black, up 1.06 percent.

Grocery giant Woolworths bolted out of the gate to a 0.64 percent gain, while rivals Wesfarmers outdid their start, up 0.74 percent.

Biotech firm CSL nudged 0.29 percent ahead, telco giant Telstra gained 0.33 percent, and airline Qantas, which, according to Daghlian, is paying dividends Monday, dropped this morning, falling 0.38 percent. Endit