Sydney  - Australian stocks piled on 3 per cent Monday as investors took their lead from a rise on Wall Street and strong company earnings as the reporting season progresses.

The ASX 200 added 135 points, or 3.1 per cent, to 4,426.

"We've certainly had a very good lead in from Wall Street," CommSec economist Craig James said. "Certainly the analysts had been much too gloomy, and the companies have been very aggressive in terms of cutting costs and supporting the bottom line."

Also helping to gee up investors were comments from Federal Reserve boss Ben Bernanke that prospects for the United States economy "appear good." (dpa)