The Aussie market has shrugged off negative leads provided by Wall Street on Friday night to open the new trading week reasonably strongly.

The XJO is approximately 15 points (+0.4%) higher heading into the afternoon session but the gains are widespread; nearly every sector is trading higher.

Energy and financial plays are amongst the best performers on the day, whilst the healthcare sector is the worst performer.

In company news, Extract Resources is up 10% amid speculation that a Chinese nuclear power company is preparing another bid for Kalahari Minerals, which owns 43% of Extract.

In economic news, the latest ANZ job ads survey sank 2.1% in September, highlighting companies' reduced demand for labour.

The data lends some weight to the expectation that the RBA will soon cut rates, given that we have also recently seen unemployment tick higher whilst underlying inflation pressures remain moderate.

Around the region, Asian markets are mixed; the Hang Seng is down 0.5% whilst the Nikkei is 1% stronger.

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