Shares near all-time high as Australian dollar climbs

The Australian sharemarket is within 14 points of setting an all-time high after the local index rallied again on the back of rising iron prices.

The S&P/ASX 200 lifted 53.1 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 7614.3 at the close, led by mining (up 1 per cent), consumer discretionary (up 1 per cent) and tech (up 1 per cent) stocks.

Mercury NZ led the large-cap advancers, after its shares soared 4.4 per cent, followed by Meridian Energy (up 4.2 per cent) and Infratil (up 2.8 per cent).

Iron ore heavyweights BHP (up 0.9 per cent), Fortescue (up 2.1 per cent) and Rio Tinto (up 0.9 per cent) were all trading higher, after the price of the steel commodity reached an 18-month high of $US140 a tonne.

Utilities (down 0.6 per cent) was the only sector trading in the red at the close, dragged down by APA Group (down 2.4 per cent).