Energy sector buoyed by surge in coal, uranium and oil stocks

The news: Australian energy stocks advanced on the ASX, led by a surge in coal, uranium and oil and gas explorers.

The numbers: Karoon Energy was the best performer by 1pm AEDT, rising 3.5% after announcing the start of drilling at its part-owned Who Dat West exploration well. Fellow oil and gas explorers Santos (1.7%) and Beach Energy (1.6%) were also among the 10 best performers across the ASX 200.

Coal miners also notched gains, with Yancoal (2%), Coronado Global Resources (2%) and Whitehaven Coal (1.5%) trading higher. Meanwhile, uranium miners Boss Energy (1.9%), Paladin Energy (1.8%) and Deep Yellow (1.3%) all climbed.

The energy sector was up 1.3% as the ASX 200 fell 0.51%.

The context: Oil prices traded flat after settling more than 1% higher on Friday, Reuters reported. Benchmarks were boosted by a larger-than-expected drawdown from US crude inventories last week, as well as optimism over economic growth in China.