Australia shares at one-week high led by banks and miners, AI-fueled rush

Published on 09/23/2025 at 02:35 am EDT
(Updates to close)

• Miners hit 16-month high
• Gold stocks rises to record close
• Investors eye inflation data on Wednesday

(Reuters) - Australian shares hit a one-week high on Tuesday, lifted by strong gains in banks and miners and an AI-driven global equity rally that pushed Wall Street to record highs overnight.
The S&P/ASX 200 benchmark index closed 0.4% higher at 8,845.90 points at its highest level in a week. This was its third consecutive session in green.
Australia's financials sub-index rose 0.6% in its strongest trading session since September 12.
The "Big Four" banks added between 0.7% and 1%, with the country's biggest business lender, National Australia Bank , finishing 1% higher.
Miners advanced 1% as well to touch a 16-month high, defying a dip in the underlying commodity prices. Gold stocks jumped more than 2% to an all-time peak, in line with the bullion's fresh highs.
BHP and Rio Tinto climbed 0.5% and 1.2% while Fortescue slid 1.1%.
"It's noteworthy that large caps are leading the charge today. Flow is going into size and quality, suggesting this could be passive money moving into the big heavyweights of the market," said Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at online trading platform Capital.com.
Market sentiment is "ebullient" after Wall Street hit a record high, driving a broad rally across global markets, Rodda said.
Overnight, all three Wall Street indexes finished at their all-time highs, led by technology shares after chip giant Nvidia announced $100 billion investment in OpenAI. The upbeat mood carried into Asia, where most markets advanced.
Investors will now tune into Australia's August inflation figures, due on Wednesday, for further clues on its central bank's monetary policy direction.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was largely unchanged at 13,136.54 points. The country's central bank is anticipated to cut cash rate by 25-basis points at its October 8 meeting, according to Reuters poll.
 (Reporting by Sneha Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee) 

Sumber : Reuters