ASX leaps 1.5% after Wall Street prices in Democrat stimulus boost

Summary

• The ASX jumped by 1.5% at the open after US investors cheered the prospect of a Democrat-controlled senate and heftier pandemic stimulus support. The major miners and banks surged
• Wall Street finished higher on the dual Democrat Senate win in Georgia, though gains eased late in the session as supporters of Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol in Washington DC and clashed with police 
• The Aussie dollar hit an overnight high of 78.20 US cents, its best since March 2018. It was 77.99 US cents at 8.30am AEST. Gold has eased back, but oil prices jumped another 1.7% and iron ore edged higher to $US168.72 a tonne
• Meanwhile, Victoria has recorded no new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the most recent 24-hour reporting period, and no new cases in hotel quarantine