Australian shares rebound as Middle East tensions ease

The broader All Ordinaries was up 73.3 points, or 0.94 per cent, to 7,890.7.

The ASX200 dropped 2.84 per cent last week, in part due to fears of all-out war in the Middle East following tit-for-tat attacks between Iran and Israel.

But Iran indicated at the weekend it had no plans to retaliate after Israel launched a limited drone strike against an air base near the city of Isfahan on Friday.

Every ASX sector was up at midday except for energy, which slid 1.3 per cent as Brent crude dipped to a roughly a four-week low of $US86 a barrel on the easing geopolitical tensions.

The materials sector was the biggest gainer, rising 1.4 per cent as BHP added 2.1 per cent, Fortescue climbed 1.5 per cent and Rio Tinto rose 1.2 per cent.

Goldminers were lower as the safe-haven asset dipped $US16 to $US2,375 an ounce, with Northern Star down 2.0 per cent and Evolution Mining dropping 1.1 per cent.

The big four banks were higher, with NAB up 1.3 per cent, CBA rising 0.9 per cent, Westpac adding 0.4 per cent and ANZ edging 0.1 per cent higher.

In the energy sector, Woodside dropped 2.0 per cent and Santos fell 0.9 per cent, while Boss Energy added 3.6 per cent to $4.755 after producing the first drum of uranium at its Honeymoon uranium mine in South Australia.

In the mining sector, Base Resources soared 119 per cent to 23c after the Perth-based, Africa-focused mineral sands producer agreed to be acquired by Energy Fuels, a US-based uranium producer, in a cash and scrip transaction valuing Base at 30.2c a share, or $375 million. 

The Australian dollar was buying 64.49 US cents, from 63.96 US cents at Friday's ASX close.