July 12 (Reuters) - Australian shares climbed more than 1% in early trade on Monday, buoyed by miners on robust commodity prices, while Australian Pharmaceutical Industries soared on a takeover offer from Wesfarmers.
The S&P/ASX 200 index rose as much as 1.1% to 7,353.4 points, finding further support from Wall Street's strong finish on Friday. The benchmark closed 0.9% higher on Friday.
Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei gained 2.1% and S&P 500 E-minis futures were largely flat.
Miners jumped as much as 2.8% and hit their highest since May 18, benefiting from a jump in the prices of gold and base metals, including copper.
Global miners Rio Tinto Ltd and BHP Ltd climbed 2.7% and 3.4%, respectively.
Gold stocks advanced 0.4%, with Newcrest Mining Ltd rising 0.9%.
Shares of Australian Pharmaceutical Industries surged 20.5% in their biggest intraday percentage gain since Oct. 16, 2008 after the company said it received a buyout proposal from retail conglomerate Wesfarmers that valued the pharmacy chain operator at A$679.9 mln ($508.9 mln). Shares of Wesfarmers were relatively flat.
Energy stocks advanced 0.7%, benefiting from a jump in oil prices on falling U.S. inventories and signs of strong Asian demand from both China and India.
Financials posted gains as well, with the "Big Four" banks all trading higher. Commonwealth Bank of Australia , National Australia Bank, Westpac Banking Corp and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group added between 0.3% and 1.1%.
Meanwhile, Australia reported its first locally contracted COVID-19 death of the year on Sunday, while Sydney prepared for a prolonged lockdown as officials warned they were expecting daily cases to top 100.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was up 0.2% at 12,715.84 by 0102 GMT. Software maker Serko and retirement village operator Summerset Group Holdings Ltd were among the top gainers on the bourse.
($1 = 1.3360 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Harish Sridharan in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
