Australia shares end higher, firm commodity prices boost miners

Published on 09/22/2025 at 02:53 am EDT
(Updates to close)

• AXMM up 2.8%, biggest gain in a month
• Gold stocks close at record level
• RBA governor says economy in a good place
• Plumbing products maker Reece jumps 14%

(Reuters) - Australian shares rose on Monday, driven by mining stocks, as stronger Chinese demand for base metals and iron ore ahead of a week-long holiday pushed commodity prices higher.
The S&P/ASX 200 benchmark index closed 0.4% higher at 8,810.90 points, clocking their biggest one-day gain in six sessions.
The resources sub-index advanced 2.8%, logging their strongest trading session in nearly a month, driven by stronger iron ore and copper prices on rising demand ahead of China's National Day holiday from October 1 to October 8.
"Resource companies are really just reacting to the base metal prices. We're seeing a lot of movement in copper, iron ore and gold," said Jamie Hannah, deputy head of investments and capital markets at investment management firm VanEck Australia.
"It has been a solid day on the ASX in terms of the performance of underlying mining companies."
Iron ore giants BHP, Rio Tinto, and Fortescue, which make up more than half of the sub-index, climbed between 1% and 3.2%.
Gold stocks jumped 6.8% to a record level as bullion prices hovered near all-time highs.
The sub-index logged gains for a third consecutive session.
Gold miners, Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining, added 8.2% and 6.3%, respectively.
Meanwhile, banks eased 0.2%, led by Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank, which declined 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively.
Westpac and ANZ Group ended largely flat.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) governor said on Monday the economy was in a "good place" with a slowing inflation and a resilient labour market giving policymakers room to ease policy further if needed.
Among individual stocks, Reece jumped 14.2% to the top of the benchmark index, after the plumbing products supplier unveiled a A$250 million ($164.80 million) off-market share buy-back plan.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.7% to 13,141.54 points. ($1 = 1.5170 Australian dollars)
 (Reporting by Sneha Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng) 

Sumber : Reuters