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Gold miners Evolution Mining and Newmont were up 1.3 per cent and 2.75 per cent, respectively, while Northern Star gained 0.8 per cent. Silver producer South32 added 1.6 per cent after silver prices surged as much as 6.3 per cent overnight.
Copper heavyweights BHP and Rio Tinto were up 1 per cent and 1.6 per cent after copper prices surpassed $US13,350 a tonne for the first time earlier this week. Demand for the metal is booming as investments in renewable energy, electric vehicles and AI data centres soar.
Rare earth-related shares gained after China imposed a ban on exports of military-use items to Japan, a move with the potential to squeeze supply chains. Australian miner Lynas Rare Earths grew 14 per cent, the most since July, with metal producer Australian Strategic Materials Ltd. climbing 7 per cent.
Banks drooped as investors continued to shift out of the sector amid concerns about its profit growth prospects. The big four banks were all in the red, with the Commonwealth Bank – Australia’s biggest stock – down 1.7 per cent, while Westpac fell 1.7 per cent, ANZ Bank slipped 1.5 per cent and National Australia Bank dropped 2 per cent.
Oil prices remained muted overnight.Credit: Rob Homer
BlueScope Steel grew 1.1 per cent after it soared 20.6 per cent on Tuesday as investors look to the next developments in the joint $13 billion takeover bid by billionaire Kerry Stokes’ industrial and media group SGH Ltd and US steelmaker Steel Dynamics.
But it was the oil and gas giants who were the biggest losers in Wednesday’s session. Woodside dropped 2.8 per cent, Santos lost 3 per cent and Ampol, the nation’s biggest refiner, fell 2.35 per cent. The declines came after oil prices held their losses overnight as traders weighed the outlook for an end to the war in Ukraine following progress on security guarantees. West Texas Intermediate traded near $US56 a barrel after closing 2 per cent lower on Tuesday. Brent settled below $US60.
On Wall Street overnight, US stocks continued their gains in the first full trading week of the year, led by advances in materials, industrials and financials as a market rotation into laggards gathered pace and catapulted the market towards a fresh all-time high.
The S&P 500 Index climbed 0.6 per cent to a fresh record. The Nasdaq 100 Index gained 0.7 per cent, while the old-economy Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1 per cent, closing above the 49,000 milestone for the first time.
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“If there is a singular theme, it is rotation,” said Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at Jones Trading Institutional Services. “Overall, people want to be invested in this market, but they are looking to other industry groups that represent relative value in comparison to last year’s leaders and highfliers.”
However, big tech companies were still making some of the most notable moves. The gains mirrored much of the action from 2025, when the tech giants often drove the market to a series of records.
Amazon, which reaches into both retail and technology, surged 3.4 per cent. It is one of the most valuable companies in the world and its outsized stock valuation helped counter losses elsewhere in the market, including a 1.8 per cent loss from Apple. Nvidia, often the biggest force behind the market’s direction, wavered throughout the day and closed down 0.5 per cent.
With AP and Bloomberg
