The major miners led the market gains on Monday as stock levels of iron ore at Chinese ports extended their declines.

BHP Group rose 1.3 per cent to $41.68, Rio Tinto added 1 per cent to end the session at $104.75 and Fortescue Metals Group advanced 1.4 per cent to $9.15.

Link Administration advanced 5.2 per cent to $5.26 after the company confirmed the sale of its corporate and private clients advisory business to Apex for £240 million ($435 million). The sale, which had been announced in January, received all regulatory approvals necessary and the company completed the deal in London on Friday.

Technology shares rose firmly as the risk-on sentiment pushed investors toward growth stocks.

Wisetech Global added 4.7 per cent to $29.00, Altium advanced 3.9 per cent to $35.54, Appen rose 4.1 per cent to $29.15, Nearmap climbed 1.1 per cent to $3.82 and Xero closed the session 2.1 per cent higher at $61.22.

The major banks were slightly higher on Monday. NAB advanced 0.3 per cent to $26.80, Westpac rose 0.04 per cent to $28.37 and ANZ added 0.3 per cent to end the session at $28.28.

Commonwealth Bank led the market losses, falling 0.6 per cent to $82.32. Goldman Sachs analyst Andrew Lyons downgraded the company from 'neutral' to 'sell'. Goldman Sachs has a 'neutral' recommendation on ANZ and Westpac, and a 'buy' recommendation on NAB.

Afterpay shares extended their losses on Monday following an announcement last week that multinational financial services Visa was set to enter the payment instalments technology market. On Friday, Afterpay's shares plunged as much as 15 per cent following the announcement. It fell further on Monday, diving as much as 10 per cent inside the opening minutes of trading before settling at $24.40, down 2.7 per cent.

Gold miners were among the market's worst performers as investors sold out of their defensive positions. Northern Star Resources fell 4 per cent to $11.18, Resolute Mining lost 4.9 per cent to close at $1.27, Regis Resources dropped 3.2 per cent to $5.11, Evolution Mining slid 3.4 per cent to $4.21, Saracen Mineral Holdings declined 2.7 per cent to $3.58 and Newcrest Mining closed 2.2 per cent lower at $31.26.

Stock watch

RESMED

Macquarie retained its 'underperform' rating on ResMed but increased its price target on the medical equipment company, saying while it saw good opportunities in the medium-longer term, its multiple was elevated. "Over the medium-longer term, we see scope for increased uptake of PAP (positive airway pressure) therapy in the US via increased awareness and diagnosis of sleep related disorders," said analyst David Bailey. "However, we see the current share price as ascribing limited medium-term risk in relation to reimbursement changes and/or longer-term impacts from competing technologies." Macquarie increased its price target on ResMed to $15.00 from $14.25.

What moved the market

JULY RATE CUT

The RBA is likely to cut interest rates when it meets on Tuesday although there is still some uncertainty. While futures markets are betting the cash rate will be cut, they are less optimistic than they were in the middle of June when they were implying a 84 per cent probability. 18 of the 26 economists surveyed by Bloomberg believes the board will make the decision to cut to 1 per cent. All four of the major banks are forecasting a 0.25 percentage point cut but HSBC, Morgan Stanley, Citi and UBS believe the Reserve Bank will remain on hold.

IRON ORE

Iron ore prices rose to a fresh five-year high on Friday as iron ore stocks at ports in China continues to decline while steel inventories also fell. The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science in Australia is also forecasting Australian iron ore exports to fall by 2.8 per cent for the year due to bad weather and operational issues. The price of iron ore rose 1.4 per cent to $US117.95 a tonne on Friday. The bulk was the best performing commodity during June, soaring above gold, nickel, copper and crude oil.

US DOLLAR

The US dollar firmed on Monday as trade tensions with China subsided following the G20 Summit in Osaka over the weekend. The two sides have agreed to return to the negotiating table with some other conditions also agreed to. "The US will hold off on tariffs on the remaining $300 billion of Chinese imports “for the time being” and rolled back some restrictions on Huawei, permitting US companies to sell US technology to the company," Westpac noted on Monday. "In exchange, China agreed to make unspecified new purchases of U.S. agricultural products."

OPEC+

OPEC is set to ratify an extension to oil supply cuts until the end of the year when it meets in Vienna this week. Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Russia have all endorsed the move set to prop up the price of crude as the global economy continues to weaken. Iran could prove to be a hindrance on the deal, with the OPEC nation previously objecting to policies put forward by the Saudi Kingdom, saying the country was too close to the US. Washington has pushed the kingdom to pump more oil to offset the fall in exports from Iran