Gold exploration and development companies Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN) and Ora Banda Mining (ASX:OBM) are the top-performing stocks on the S&P/ASX 200 index today, which grew by 0.15% to 8,984.5 points.
Evolution’s share price surged by 7.9% to $14.24 while Ora Banda was up by 7.1% to $13.45 per unit in the first hour of the Australian Securities Exchange opening for trade.
Multinational gold producer Newmont (ASX:NEM) jumped by 1.4% to $167.02 per share while South32 (ASX:S32) increased by 0.3% to $48.85 per share.
This is the second day of gains following three consecutive days of losses on the index. On April 9 the index dropped by 6.3% to 8,945.5 points. On April 10 the index decreased by 0.14% to 8,960.6 points. On April 13 the index dwindled by 0.34% to 8,930 points. On April 14 the index rose by 0.34% to 8,930 points.
“Over the last five days the index has gained 0.37% and is currently 2.37% off of its 52-week high,” the ASX markets website says.
As Mining.com.au previously reported, the index reported a third year of “positive returns” during 2025 despite “some concerns about the state of the world”.
“Big option trades using longer-dated contracts we found in January appear to be looking for continuation of this upward trend in 2026,” the ASX says.
Analysts predict recently resumed oil shipments in the Middle East will have a short-term positive impact.
“The key thing to watch for remains a significant and sustained pick up in the number of ships coming through the Strait of Hormuz — it has picked up but it is a fraction of normal levels,” AMP (ASX:AMP) Chief Economist Shane Oliver tells the Australian Associated Press.
“If this were to occur, even with Iran collecting a fee, it could allow the war to continue but with less impact on the global economy and markets,” he adds, according to the newswire agency.
Write to Richard Szabo at Mining.com.au
Images: Marcus Reubenstein via Unsplash
