Aussie shares gain as Rio makes play for lithium miner

The local share market has managed a positive start to the week after a strong US jobs report over the weekend allayed fears the world's biggest economy was headed for recession.

Monday was also a busy day for the mining sector with Arcadium Lithium soaring after Rio Tinto floated a multibillion-dollar takeover, and West African Resources plummeting on fears Burkina Faso might revoke mining permits in the only nation where it operates.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished up 55.4 points, or 0.68 per cent, to 8,205.4, while the broader All Ordinaries climbed 62.4 points, or 0.74 per cent, to 8,479.0.

Over the weekend the US Labor Department reported non-farm payrolls rose by far more than expected in September, suggesting some of July's deterioration in the American labour market was little more than a blip, and leading the S&P500 to jump 0.9 per cent.

"There was absolutely no ambiguity in the way the market traded the US jobs data - it was solid across all metrics, and remaining US recession calls have once again been pushed out," Pepperstone head of research Chris Weston said.

That optimism carried over to the ASX on Monday, with seven of the bourse's 11 sectors finishing higher and four ending lower.

The tech sector was the biggest mover, climbing 1.6 per cent as Life360 rose 6.8 per cent to an all-time high of $20.45 and Brainchip soared 21.7 per cent to a five-month high of 28 cents.

The financial sector was the second-best performer, climbing 1.5 per cent with gains for all four of the big retail banks.

Westpac advanced 2.1 per cent to $30.78, NAB added 1.9 per cent to $37.12, CBA rose 1.5 per cent to $134.77 and ANZ expanded 1.2 per cent to $29.99.

In the mining sector, Arcadium Lithium soared 45.7 per cent to a four-month high of $6.09 after Rio Tinto confirmed its takeover offer for the Philadelphia-based company created in January by the merger of Allkem and Livent.

"The approach is non-binding and there is no certainty that any transaction will be agreed to or will proceed," Rio Tinto said.

Shareholder Blackwattle Investment Partners quickly urged Arcadium's board to reject the "opportunistic" approach for undervaluing the company.

Rio dropped 2.0 per cent to $121.17 while other lithium companies rose. Pilbara added 1.6 per cent, Liontown soared 18.9 per cent and IGO advanced 2.7 per cent.

The other big iron ore miners were higher, with BHP rising 0.6 per cent to $44.86 and Fortescue adding 3.0 per cent to $20.35.

Elsewhere in the sector, West African Resources sunk 19.5 per cent to a four-week low of $1.34 after Burkina Faso junta leader Ibrahim Traor? said in a radio address over the weekend that his government planned to withdraw mining permits from some foreign companies.

"We know how to mine our gold and I don't understand why we're going to let multinationals come and mine it," he said, according to Reuters.

West African Resources, a Perth-headquartered company that mines exclusively in Burkina Faso, said the government there has supported it and the company wasn't aware of any plans to revoke its mining permits

At the smaller end of town, Bowen Coal sunk 33.3 per cent to 0.8 cents after the Queensland coking coalminer announced a $70 million capital raising at a 25 per cent discount to fund more development at its Burton mine in Queensland.

The Australian dollar had dropped to a nearly three-week low of 68.04 US cents, from 68.42 US cents at Friday's ASX close.

ON THE ASX:

* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Monday up 55.4 points, or 0.68 per cent, at 8,205.4

* The All Ordinaries gained 62.4 points, or 0.74 per cent, at 8,479.0

CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:

One Australian dollar buys:

* 67.99 US cents, up from 68.42 US cents at Friday's ASX close

* 100.97 Japanese yen, from 100.06 yen

* 62.01 euro cents, from 62.01 euro cents

* 51.86 British pence, from 52.04 pence

* 110.41 NZ cents, from 110.26 NZ cents