Iron ore drives 14-month high

A SURGE in iron ore prices provided a sugar hit to the Australian share market which set a fresh 14-month high in early trade on Monday.

The S&P/ASX 200 index jumped 1.3 per cent, or 92 points to 7172.8, while the All Ordinaries ended the session up 1.3 per cent, or 94.6 points to an index position of 7419.8.

The Australian dollar was fetching 78.6 US cents and the spot gold dollar value was $US1838.05 an ounce. A surge in the price of iron ore to a record $US212 a tonne bolstered investor sentiment in major miners, which caused the market to inch closer to pre-coronavirus highs. CommSec analyst Steven Daghlian said the ASX is edging closer to a full recovery after its fifth gain in the last six trading days.

“We have been inching our way closer to and the question now is whether or not there is enough fuel in the tank to get us there,” Mr Daghlian said.

“At the moment we are about 0.7 per cent away from pre-pandemic highs.”

Pilbara Minerals secured top spot of the day as a result of the commodity price surge, gaining 10.6 per cent to $1.30.

Fortescue Metals rose 7.9 per cent $24.79, while Rio Tinto gained 4.6 per cent to $132.94 and BHP edged 3.1 per cent higher to $51.65.