The ASX made modest moves up on Tuesday (11 February) after US President Donald Trump agreed to consider Australia’s call for an exemption from tariffs being imposed on aluminium and steel imports.
Trump reportedly said the US trade surplus with Australia was one of the reasons he was considering an exemption from the tariffs.
The S&P/ASX 200 gave back some of its gains to close up just 1.2 points at 8,484 points by the closing bell. The index has lost 1.31% over the last five days, and is sitting just shy of 1% below its one-year peak.
Eight of the 11 sectors advanced. Industrials was the best performing sector, gaining 0.98% over the course of trade on Tuesday and 1.73% over the past five days. Utilities advanced 0.57% and materials added 0.17%, but energy slid 0.3%.
The gold miners dominated today after the price of the safehaven metal continued its ascent above US$2,900 ($4,622) an ounce.
Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN) rallied 4.89% to $6.22, Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST) climbed 4.04% to $18.54, De Grey Mining (ASX:DEG) jumped 3.88% to $2.14, Newmont (ASX:NEM) rose 3.17% to $73.99 and Westgold Resources (ASX:WGX) closed up 2.87% at $2.51.
Lithium miner Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR) tumbled 9.09% to $0.60, fellow lithium play Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) slipped 3.64% to $2.12, Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) slumped 6.93% to $32.62 and IGO (ASX:IGO) ended the session down 4.29% at $4.69.
Meanwhile, the ANZ has revised its anticipated GDP growth for 2025 up to 2.4%, from 2.2% previously, with household consumption expected to rise.
“An anticipated interest rate reduction in February should also support the recovery evident in consumer confidence and consumer spending,” Senior Economist Adelaide Timbrell says.
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
