Miners lift Australian shares on firm prices, rare earths deals

Australian shares gained on Thursday, with miners set for a sixth straight session of gains as firm commodity prices and a wave of rare earths deals lifted sentiment.

The S&P/ASX 200 index gained 0.3% to 8,975.2 points by 2325 GMT.

The benchmark had closed marginally lower on Wednesday.

Miners added 1.3%, setting the sub-index on track for its sixth straight session of gains, as copper prices hovered near a 16-month high and rare earths miners surged following an influx of deals.

Copper-focussed producers underpinned the sub-index, with Sandfire Resources and local shares of Capstone Copper gaining 4.7% and 8.5%, respectively, ranking among the top percentage gainers on the benchmark.

BHP, the world’s largest listed miner, gained 1.8% and Rio Tinto rose 0.5%. Lynas Rare Earths, the world’s largest producer of rare earths outside China, added 2.4% after signing an agreement to supply rare earth permanent magnets to US defence and commercial sectors.

Brazilian Rare Earths jumped as much as 7.7% to a record high on a 10-year supply deal, while peer European Lithium grew 12.1% after its partner, Critical Metals , signed a rare earths agreement.

Overnight gains on Wall Street lifted Australian market sentiment, with local tech stocks rising 0.6% in line with the broader US rally.

Real estate stocks also drove the benchmark higher with a 0.6% rise after data centre landlords gained on AI optimism in the US following chip deals.

In company news, shares of Mexican-themed fast food chain Guzman Y Gomez soared as much as 26.2%, its biggest ever percentage gain, on announcing a A$100 million ($65.6 million) share buyback.

New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index gained 0.1% following its record close on Wednesday, a day after the domestic central bank announced a bumper half-percent rate cut.