Australian shares rise as miners rebound on higher commodity prices

Australian shares rose to a two-month high on Tuesday, with gains led by index heavyweight miners as copper prices raced towards record highs on surging demand and gold hit a fresh peak on safe-haven rush.

The S&P/ASX 200 index climbed 0.7% to 8,816.30 by 2348 GMT, its highest level since November 12.

The benchmark gained 0.5% on Monday.

Overnight, the S&P 500 and Dow registered record closing highs as the market brushed aside concerns about the US Justice Department’s criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

In Sydney, miners bounced back to rise 2.1%.

Iron ore futures edged higher on Monday, lifted by China’s latest stimulus pledge, and a need for restocking.

Meanwhile, strength in copper prices, driven by optimism over increasing demand in top consumer China and from potential data centre projects required for artificial intelligence, also supported the sub-index.

Sector behemoths BHP and Rio Tinto climbed 1.9% and 2.3%, respectively.

Rio Tinto’s stock had lost 6.7% in the last two sessions, after the miner said it was in talks to buy Glencore in a merger that would create the world’s largest mining company.

BHP slumped 2.5% on Monday as the deal put pressure on the company to respond with expansion of its own. Gold stocks rose 1.4% to hit a record high after bullion scaled an all-time high.

Financials gained for a second straight session, rising 0.7%.

The ‘big four’ banks added between 0.7% and 0.9%.

Consumer staples slipped 0.8% and utilities shed 1%. Energy stocks retreated 0.7%, even after oil prices settled at seven-week highs on Monday on worries that Iran’s exports could decline amid intensifying protests.

Among individual stocks, Endeavour Group was the biggest drag, tumbling 5.5% after it forecast first-half profit below analyst estimates.

New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was largely unchanged at 13,682.69.