The ASX may have climbed higher on Tuesday, but the iron ore and coal majors were not along for the ride.
The slump in the iron ore price back to below US$100 ($160) a tonne saw Champion Iron (ASX:CIA) wipe off 6.55% to close at $5.42 and Fortescue (ASX:FMG) slide 4.43% to $17.25.
Also in the bottom five were coal producers Stanmore Resources (ASX:SMR), which dropped 3.29% to $2.94, and Yancoal Australia (ASX:YAL) with a 2.75% retreat to $6.02.
Gold producer Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS) rounded out the bottom five with a 2.75% dip to $2.12 despite announcing record underlying free cash flow of $164.5 million from the production of 85,311 ounces during the December 2024 quarter.
The S&P/ASX 200 rallied 27.70 points, or 0.34% to end the session at 8,285.10 points, crossing above its 20-day moving average.
Over the last five days, the index has gained 1.54% and is currently 2.69% off its 52-week high.
Eight of the 11 sectors closed in the green. The materials sector gave back its marginal gains from early in the trading session to end 0.61% lower. Utilities was also in the red with a 0.74% decline.
Information technology was the best performing sector, gaining 1.45% on Tuesday and 2.77% over the past five days.
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
