The S&P/ASX 200 index roared back 1.34% to 8,713.80 points in less than one hour of the Australian Securities Exchange opening for trade. The index lost an estimated $90 billion of market value yesterday (9 March).
Uranium producer Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN) is one of the “top performing stocks” today, rising 9.5% to $12.26 each share. Family connection and safety company Life360 (ASX:360) has seen a 10.5% increase to $22.55 a share during the same period.
Copper, zinc, lead, and silver multinational Newmont (ASX:NEM) jumped 2.6% to $164.05 before easing to $163.30 a few hours later. Fellow copper, zinc, lead, silver and aluminium producer South32 (ASX:S32) slightly increased 1.4% to $4.33 during the first hour of trading.
“The index has lost 4% for the last five days but is virtually unchanged over the last year to date,” 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”.
“The 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 say the share price declines follow both the US and Israeli government’s military strikes against Iran. ATFX global chief market strategist Nick Twidale warns Australia could still see a “real downturn” if the US-Israel-Iran conflict continues for “too long”.
Write to Richard Szabo at Mining.com.au
Images: Marcus Reubenstein via Unsplash
