ASX reaches 3-month high, as miners lead the charge

The Australian sharemarket, after a three-day break, jumped in early trade on Tuesday reaching a three-month high that was bolstered by surging precious metals prices and a rally on Wall Street.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 86.3 points, or 1 per cent, to 8946.4, rebounding from last week's 0.5 per cent loss. Of the index's 11 sectors, nine were in the green, led by miners and utilities.
Mining giants BHP and Rio Tinto gained at least 2 per cent, while the gold and silver sectors were again on fire. Gold miners climbed after the precious metal set a record price at $US5100 an ounce. Horizon Minerals jumped 5.6 per cent, Northern Star leapt 2 per cent, Evolution Mining advanced 1.4 per cent and Newmont rose 1.2 per cent.
Silver also reached a new high, topping $US114 an ounce. This pushed Investigator Silver 6.7 per cent higher and Silver Mines up 6.3 per cent, while Sun Silver rallied 4.3 per cent.
Family app Life360 dropped 10 per cent and was the biggest loser on the ASX.
All the big banks were in the green, led by Macquarie Group, up 1.6 per cent. Commonwealth Bank rose 0.6 per cent.
Stocks in focus
Shares in DroneShield dropped 2 per cent despite doubling revenue in the December quarter, from a year ago.
Iron ore giant Fortescue Metals rose 0.8 per cent after sweeping up all remaining shares of dual-listed Alta Copper at $C1.40 ($1.47) per share, as the mining giant expands into the red metal.
Wholesaler company Metcash edged up 0.3 per cent following the appointment of Bruce Sabatta as the new chief executive of its Foodservice and Convenience business, from next month.
Brazil-focused explorer and producer Karoon Energy leapt 4.3 per cent despite posting a lower output in the December quarter, from the September period.
Jewellery retailer Michael Hill International jumped 13.5 per cent after reporting a stronger half-year profit than a year ago despite record gold prices.
Insurer group AUB was placed on a trading halt after launching a $400 million institutional placement to finance a UK acquisition.
Alkane Resources rose 1.2 per cent after posting a record gold production in the second quarter.
Santos leapt nearly 3 per cent on news it had finally shipped its first liquified natural gas cargo from a delayed Barossa project in the Timor Sea.

Sumber : AFR