Australian shares have risen for a second straight day, led by mining and technology stocks, although the gains were capped by weakness in the 'big four' banks.

The ASX 200 index was up 0.3 per cent to 7,527 points (by 12:15pm AEST).

Harvey Norman was one of today's worst performing stocks, down 3.1 per cent (to $5.39), after reporting its highest ever annual profit for the year ended June 30, 2021.

Also, the electronics and furniture retailer has bowed to public pressure and repaid $6 million in JobKeeper payments.

The retail group is estimated to have received $22 million worth of JobKeeper wage subsidies since the pandemic struck, despite booming sales of its household goods, consumer electronics and office equipment.

Harvey Norman wrote, in a footnote buried in its financial report, that "all of the wages support and assistance received by controlled entities of $6.02 million ... was repaid to the federal government via the Australian Taxation Office" in August.

The company, founded by billionaire Gerry Harvey, revealed that its statutory profit after tax jumped to $841.4 million (up 75 per cent).

It will also pay shareholders a much higher full-year dividend of 35 cents per share (up 46 per cent).

But the latest round of COVID-19 restrictions have impacted the retailer's sales in the past couple of months.

Mr Harvey said that rolling lockdowns in most of Australia's states and territories had affected sales in July and August, despite contactless click and collect and home delivery options being offered across his 192 franchised stories across the nation.

“However, we expect spending to recover quickly as we saw when lockdown restrictions were eased in our overseas markets due to pent-up demand."

Investors await clues on stimulus rollback

Some of the best performing stocks were Kogan (+5.5pc), WiseTech Global (+4.4pc), Resmed (+3.3pc), Healius (+5.6pc) and Webjet (+2.7pc).

On the flip side, Mesoblast (-11.4pc), Nuix (-3.7pc), Pointsbet (-1.8pc) and Worley (-3.4pc) experienced heavy losses.

The Australian dollar was slightly weaker at 72.95 US cents (down 0.2 per cent). 

Spot gold fell was steady at $US1,812.67 an ounce (up 0.1 per cent), while Brent crude oil futures dropped to $US73 a barrel (down 0.6 per cent).

Local investor sentiment was a lot more subdued compared to overseas.

On Friday, the US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell indicated in a speech that his central bank could begin winding back stimulus measures this year. But he also added the Fed would remain "cautious".

"The questions now should pivot from the timing of the taper to its speed," said Christopher Smart, chief global strategist at the Barings Investment Institute.

"How fast will the Fed reduce its purchases from the current $US120 billion monthly rate?

"That will likely be determined by some of the data coming in this week, including US consumer confidence and jobs, but also European inflation and Chinese PMIs [purchasing managers index]."

'No rush' for rate hike

On US markets, Apple shares hit fresh records, after rising 3 per cent (to $US153.12).

Tech giants like Microsoft, Amazon and Google owner Alphabet also rose, boosting the S&P and Nasdaq indices overnight.

High-growth tech stocks tend to benefit from expectations of lower rates because their value rests heavily on future earnings.

The broad S&P 500 index gained 0.4 per cent (to 4,529), to finish with its 12th record high this month.

This was also its longest monthly winning streak since 2018, on the promise of easy money from the Fed — as investors shrugged off signs of a slowing economic recovery and surging COVID-19 cases.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 0.9 per cent (to 15,266), also closing at fresh highs.

But the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2 per cent (to 35,400), weighed down by banking stocks.

"It's now clear that there's going to still be an extraordinary amount of support for this economy, probably until November," said Ed Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA.

ABC/Reuters