The Australian sharemarket notched its strongest gain in three weeks on Tuesday, driven by miners as geopolitical tensions and supply concerns sparked a rally in key metals prices.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index was 0.6%, or by 49.10 points, to 8808.50, with four of the 11 sectors stronger. It was the best day for the bourse since it rose by 1.1% on December 23.
Materials underpinned gains as the sector rose by more than 2% as copper rose above $US13,000 on the London Metal Exchange, aided by a weaker US dollar and concerns about a shortage of supply outside the world’s largest economy.
“Copper is ripping because disproportionate amounts of it remain in US warehouses following the Trump tariff pre-empting surge last year. This has left ex-US copper inventories thin, and means any sudden uptick in Chinese demand could trigger a squeeze,” ETF Shares chief investment officer David Tuckwell said.
On the ASX, this saw BHP advance 2.3% to $47.58, Rio Tinto 2.2% to $145.53 and South32 1.5% to $3.96. Gold miners also rose for a second time this week as the price of bullion traded around fresh highs, which helped Northern Star jump 3.6% to $26.35 and Greatland Resources 5.2% to $12.61.
Defence sector stocks also enjoyed gains as DroneShield added 1.3% to $3.90 and shipbuilder Austal ended among the bourse’s top performers as it climbed 6.7% to $8.73.
Energy was the weakest sector as it took a breather following strong recent gains amid a spike in global oil prices. Ampol fell 4.8% to $29.65 and Woodside 1.7% to $23.31, which came as the oil giant said reported the arrival from China of the giant production platform that will be used at its) Scarborough gas project off the coast of Western Australia.
Lynas Rare Earths rose 1.9% to $15.06 as it announced the retirement of veteran chief executive Amanda Lacaze after 12 years in the role.
Endeavour Group, which owns Dan Murphy’s and BWS, fell 2.9% to $3.7 as its forecasted profit before tax of $400 million to $411 million came in 7.5% below analysts’ expectations, as heavy discounting weighed on sales.
GQG Partners lost 8.6% to $1.64 following $US2.1 billion in net outflows in December and $US3.9 billion ($5.8 billion) for 2025, driven by withdrawals across all major strategies.
BlueScope slid 0.3% to $29.84 as investment company Vanguard’s stake in the steel maker rose to 6.04%, up from 5% previously.
Suncorp added 1% to $17.26 as Citi cut its FY26 EPS forecast by 9% – with FY27 and FY28 lowered by 1% – and trimmed its price target to $18.50 from $19.25.
Fletcher Building fell 0.9% to $3.21 as it reported a modest improvement in key product sales volumes for the December quarter, but warned the lift is not enough to offset earlier declines, with meaningful recovery not expected until 2027
