Australian shares rebound tracking global recovery; unemployment rate falls

Australian stocks rose on Thursday after a three-session losing streak, tracking a rebound in global shares after US President Donald Trump said a framework for an agreement on Greenland had been reached.

The S&P/ASX 200 index climbed 0.7% to 8,845.7 by 0042 GMT and was on track for it best day in nearly a month, if current gains held.

Wall Street stocks jumped overnight after Trump said the United States would no longer be imposing the additional levies as threatened previously and ruled out taking Greenland by force, calming investor nerves.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that net employment jumped 65,200 in December from November, blowing past forecasts for a 30,000 gain, while the unemployment rate dropped unexpectedly to a seven-month low in a sign the labour market remains healthy.

Rate-sensitive banks climbed 1.5%, with the “Big Four” up between 1% and 2.7%. Other rate-sensitive sectors like real estate and consumer discretionary rose 0.9% and 2.3%, respectively.

Energy stocks gained 1.8% to reach their highest level since early December, helped by upbeat oil prices. Santos climbed 3.1% after the country’s second-largest independent gas producer forecast higher 2026 output.

Woodside, which is due to report its production results next week, rose 2.7%.

Technology stocks advanced 0.4%.

Bucking the trend, gold stocks fell 5.3% in what could be their worst session since mid-November, after bullion prices pared gains overnight. Sector heavyweight Northern Star Resources fell 7.3% after posting a sequential decline in quarterly gold sales.

Miners lost 1.3%, mainly due to the drop in gold stocks.

However, South32 jumped 4.6% on reporting higher quarterly manganese output, while iron ore miner Rio Tinto rose as much as 3.8% to hit a record high.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was up 0.8% at 13,523.6, rising the most in more than a month.