The Australian Securities Exchange posted its strongest gain in roughly three months on Tuesday, climbing 1.10% to reach an 11-week high.
Wall Street rebounds
The S&P 500 jumped about 2.5% overnight, while the Nasdaq gained 2.8%. Chip stocks surged by roughly 6.5%, suggesting that last week’s volatility in the technology sector may have been overdone. Investors returned to riskier assets after a period of uncertainty, sending the VIX fear gauge down about 20%.
Oil prices retreated sharply, with Brent crude sliding around 6% to trade near US$92 per barrel. The drop came after former President Donald Trump suggested he did not expect another major attack on Iran, easing concerns about supply disruptions in the Middle East.
Local sectors join the rally
Back in Sydney, the local market opened higher and remained in positive territory for the rest of the session. The industrials sector led the advance, gaining 2.31%, followed by real estate, which climbed 2.23%. Materials and financials also posted solid gains.
Small caps outperformed the broader market, jumping about 1.5% early in the day before finishing stronger. The ASX 200 remained within striking distance of its record high set in August. Monadelphous Group was a notable performer, surging more than 10% after guiding to first-half profit of $80 million to $85 million, well above market forecasts.
While the stock market celebrated, Australian consumers remained cautious. Westpac’s consumer sentiment index fell to a four-year low, and mortgage holders expressed record-low confidence. Petrol prices have pushed toward $2.40 a litre, adding pressure on household budgets.
Despite the gloomy consumer sentiment data, Australians are projected to spend a record $7.2 billion during the Black Friday-Cyber Monday sales period.
The rally on the ASX 200 was broad-based, with almost all sectors finishing in the green. The All Ordinaries index rose 1.14%, and the ASX 300 climbed 1.13%. Small caps were the strongest performers, up 2.29%, while the gold index added 2.31%. Banks finished 1.07% higher, and the All Tech index rose 0.56%. Only staples and utilities posted minor declines, with staples down 0.20% and utilities down 0.37%. In contrast, materials added 1.48% and financials 1.12%, while discretionary, energy, tech, healthcare, and telcos all finished in positive territory.
Several companies announced significant developments during the session. Anson Resources outlined how its lithium processing technology could create a new revenue stream. Astral Resources reported its highest-ever gold grade from drilling at Theia Deeps. Astron signed a five-year offtake deal covering all mineral sands production from its Donald project, while Flynn Gold reported shallow gold hits at its Brilliant prospect. Additionally, Terra Metals reported project-best platinum group metal grades from drilling at Southwest.
Tambourah Metals launched drilling at Baxters South. On the development front, AuKing Mining released updated economics for its Halls Creek project, estimating a pre-tax net present value of about $317 million, a 47% internal rate of return, and life-of-mine free cash flow of roughly $681 million. The staged development is modelled to produce about 4,000tpa of copper cathode and 13,000tpa of contained zinc, with a PFS targeted for the first half of 2028.
Market activity
Several stocks traded on restricted movements throughout the day. Arrow Minerals, Auric Mining, Dotz Nano, PolarX, RBR Group, and Raiden Resources were among those subject to trading halts for capital raises or asset acquisitions.
Anthropic is reportedly looking to raise as much as US$69bn in its IPO.
