The ASX continued higher on Wednesday (15 January) as copper lifted base metals and iron ore pushed back above US$100 ($161.50) a tonne.
The S&P/ASX 200 rose 20.10 points, or 0.24%, to 8,251.10 points as of 10.30am AEDT. The index has lost 1.17% over the last five days, but has rallied 10.07% over the past year.
Eight of the 11 sectors rose. Financial was up 0.46% and materials edged up 0.03%. However, industrials dipped 0.09% and energy shifted down 0.03% in early trade.
ANZ says copper led the base metals higher as fears of immediate disruptions to trade flow eased.
“The Trump Administration is said to be considering slowly ramping up trade tariffs, rather than imposing sizeable levels from day one. The approach is said to be aimed about boosting negotiating leverage and avoiding a spike in inflation,“ ANZ says.
Meanwhile, this week’s positive Chinese trade data has helped reverse iron ore’s recent slide.
Lithium miners Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR) and Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) were among the top movers in the S&P/ASX 200, advancing 2.78% to $0.56 and 2.72% to $2.25, respectively.
Gold miner Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN) climbed 2.26% to $5.43.
At the small cap end, Gold Mountain (ASX:GMN) rallied 50% to $0.003 on news it has defined 10 high-priority lithium targets for drilling at its Salinas II Project in the Bananal Valley in Brazil.
Austin Metals (ASX:AYT) climbed 25% to $0.005, Critical Resources (ASX:CRR) rose 20% to $0.006, Yandal Resources (ASX:YRL) was up over 21% to $0.175 and GBM Resources increased over 14% to $0.008.
Meanwhile, Lachlan Star (ASX:LSR) slipped nearly 11% to $0.05, Ausquest (ASX:AQD) dropped 12.5% to $0.007 and Marvel Gold (ASX:MVL) fell 11% to $0.008.
The S&P/ASX200 is Australia’s leading share market index and contains the top 200 ASX-listed companies in terms of market capitalisation, and accounts for about 80% of the country’s equity market. The index is designed to measure the performance of the 200 largest index-eligible stocks listed on the ASX by float-adjusted market capitalisation.
It is recognised as the institutional investable benchmark in the country.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: ASX & Stock
