Copper, iron ore, and gold are all notching gains following news out of China that policymakers are considering further economic stimulus measures and reports of further interest rate cuts in the US.
ANZ analysts say copper topped US$10,000 ($14,509) a tonne for the first time since early June after the official Xinhua News Agency reported that China’s Politburo will push for the real estate market to “stop decline” and called for forceful rate cuts.
Meanwhile, iron ore futures rose above US$100 a tonne, and gold hit yet another record of US$2,685 an ounce on expectations the US Federal Reserve cut rates by 75 basis points by the end of this year.
This follows a drop in US consumer confidence in August, which ANZ says fell by the most in three years, raising concerns about the labour market.
In Australia, data showed a 5.2% reduction in job vacancies for the three months to August, which Commonwealth Bank senior economist Belinda Allen says is 32% below its 2022 peak levels.
The S&P/ASX 200 opened higher this morning, advancing 19.40 points, or 0.24%, to 8,223.10 points at 10:05am AEST.
Mining heavyweight BHP (ASX:BHP) was among the early movers, gaining 2.40% and joining aluminium major Alcoa (ASX:AAI) and BlueScope Steel (ASX:BSL) with respective rises of 6.22% and 1.82%.
Uranium producer Boss Energy (ASX:BOE) also shifted higher not long after the opening bell, adding 2.71% to its share price.
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: Stock & ASX
