The Australian Securities Exchange reversed its negative start to the week, shifting into the green with modest gains as positive views on commodities demand buoyed investor sentiment.
The S&P/ASX 200 closed up 15 points, or 0.18%, at 8,300.20 points on Monday (18 November).
Over the last five days, the index is virtually unchanged, but is 1.01% below its 52-week high.
Seven of the 11 sectors ended the session higher, with materials up 1.40% and energy advancing 1.51% following a slow start.
Consumer Staples was the best performing sector, gaining 2.12% over the course of Monday and rebounding from its recent decline. This sector is off 0.59% over the past five days.
ANZ senior commodity analyst Daniel Hynes and commodity strategist Soni Kumari say iron ore prices have stabilised in recent weeks following a pick-up in steel and iron ore demand from non-property sectors.
The analysts see strong potential for China to roll out additional stimulus measures.
“With Beijing quite open about keeping its powder dry ahead of potentially higher tariffs in 2025, we think the possibility of additional stimulus measures is high,” Hynes and Kumari said.
“This should keep sentiment in the iron ore and steel industry relatively buoyant. If supported in the short term by a continued improvement in economic data, we think the downside risks for iron ore are relatively limited. We reiterate our short-term price target of USD95/t ($147).”
The price of the steelmaking commodity is fetching just over US$100 a tonne currently.
China’s recent stimulatory measures bode well for industrial metals, but the market will rely on economic data to reconfirm the positive impact, according to Hynes and Kumari.
Supply is also tightening in the base metals space as unplanned disruptions and supply outages send ripples through the market.
Meanwhile, uranium miners Boss Energy (ASX:BOE) and Deep Yellow (ASX:DYL) held onto their early gains, ending the day up 7.34% at $3.07 and 7.02% at $1.22, respectively.
South32 (ASX:S32) also stayed in the green with a 6.20% gain to $3.77, as did Alcoa (ASX:AAI) with a 6.45% tick up to $68.34. Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) was also among the top movers, climbing 5.76% to $35.46.
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
