Materials sector stocks advanced 1.73% at midday Monday, as iron ore prices moved higher. Meanwhile, stocks rallied on Wall Street on Friday after a US government shutdown was avoided.

Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS) and Spartan Resources (ASX:SPR) entered into a binding transaction implementation deed for Ramelius to acquire shares in Spartan that it does not already own in a deal that values Spartan at AU$2.4 billion.

On the other hand, the healthcare sector fell 0.47%.

Nyrada (ASX:NYR) began recruiting participants for the phase 1a clinical trial for the company's lead drug candidate, NYR-BI03, which is a small molecule, first-in-class neuroprotection, and cardioprotection treatment.