The Australian sharemarket extended its gains at Monday noon, buoyed by financial and materials stocks and positive offshore leads from the US and Asia.

Buyer confidence was boosted as copper surged to five-month highs in Shanghai as the Chinese market reopened after a holiday, while gold futures touched a record above $US1300 an ounce and Wall Street notched up a fourth straight week of gains.

At midday AEST, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 lifted 1.5 per cent to 4,671 points while the broader All Ordinaries gained 1.41 per cent to 4,717.1 points.

On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index futures contract was 74 points higher at 4694 points on a volume of 16,991 contracts.

All major banks were in the black, with ANZ Banking Group 58 cents higher at $24.18.

Commonwealth Bank had gained 97 cents to $52.79, National Australia Bank added 1.95 per cent to $26.05 and Westpac Banking Corp put on 1.95 per cent to $23.95.

Investment Bank Macquarie Group climbed 3.24 per cent to $37.53.

"They are just going up across the board," said Albert Hung, chief investment officer at Alleron Investment Management.

"The American market showed strength, therefore we are seeing some catch up. You would like to see whether there's any sustained buying coming through during the day," he said.

The major miners were in higher territory, with Rio Tinto adding $1.38, or 1.83 per cent, to $76.98 and BHP Billiton gaining 64 cents, or 1.64 per cent, to $39.68. Fortescue Metals Group firmed 1.78 per cent to $5.13.

Coal miner Macarthur Coal picked up 1.01 per cent to $11.98.

Mr Hung noted the index had struggled on recent moves toward 4,700 and said volumes remained constrained.

"People in general are still quite nervous about the global economy on one hand, and they are quite concerned about the interest rate policy here. Clearly the Reserve Bank is quite hawkish. Some analysts think an interest rate hike will come as early as next month. That could have some negative impact on the market, adding another negative situation for exporters," he said.

With Reuters