The S&P/ASX 200 reversed its downward trend to advance 51.3 points, or 0.6%, to 8,535.3 points by the closing bell on Wednesday (12 February).
The index has climbed 1.41% over the past five days and sits 0.37% off its 52-week high.
Seven of the 11 sectors ended the session higher. Industrials rallied 1.93%, energy lifted 0.98% and utilities rose 0.15%.
Materials, however, retreated 0.42%, with the gold miners the most sold down after the price of the safehaven metal cooled to US$2,887 ($4,588) an ounce.
Perseus Mining (ASX:PRU) dropped 4.86% to $2.74, Emerald Resources (ASX:EMR) slid 4.62% to $4.13, Bellevue Gold (ASX:BGL) retreated 3.72% to $1.17, Westgold Resources (ASX:WGX) declined 3.19% to $2.43 and West African Resources (ASX:WAF) closed down 3.1% at $1.72.
Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN), however, shifted up 1.13% to $6.29 after reporting a 277% increase in net profit to a record $365 million for the first half of the 2025 financial year. This led to a 250% increase in the planned dividend payout for the period.
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 & iStock
