Australian shares hit record high as miners rally on US-Iran optimism
- The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.7% at 9,291.30 points
Australian shares rose to a record high on Thursday, underpinned by heavyweight miners, as risk appetite remained buoyant on prospects of a US-Iran peace deal that could end the five-month-long war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.7% at 9,291.30 points, as of 1226 GMT.
The benchmark climbed nearly 1% on Wednesday to touch an all-time-high closing level.
US President Donald Trump said there was an “all-day negotiation” on Tuesday with Iran, characterizing the talks positively, which triggered a further fall in US Treasury yields and kept global oil prices pinned below recent highs.
On the bourse, Australian miners jumped 2.2% to their highest level since June 19. Heavyweights Rio Tinto, Fortescue and BHP added between 1% and 1.4%, as copper prices hit a three-month high and iron ore futures broke a declining streak the previous day.
Separately, Swiss mining giant Glencore said on Wednesday it would seek a secondary listing on the Australian Securities Exchange, targeting admission in October.
If approved, the move would further increase the benchmark index’s already heavy weighting towards mining stocks.
Stocks in Australia and New Zealand end at record highs
Gold producers surged 5.7% as bullion touched its highest level in seven weeks on lower US Treasury yields Shares of Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources climbed more than 6% each.
The “Big Four” banks climbed around 0.5% each, with financials recouping from recent losses after a 0.6% rise.
Energy stocks declined 1.8%.
Information technology stocks dropped 1.3% after strong gains in the previous session, tracking losses in Wall Street’s tech-heavy Nasdaq as SpaceX and AMD stumbled following their quarterly earnings. WiseTech Global fell 2.5%, while Xero edged 0.4% lower.
Among individual stocks, AMP hit its highest point in over seven years after the wealth manager posted a 33% increase in first-half underlying profit after tax and also announced an A$150 million ($105.83 million) share buyback plan. New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index edged 0.1% lower to 13,982.06 points.
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