The ASX took a break on Friday (17 January) from its rapid climb a day earlier, at the same time gold and iron ore received a shot in the arm.
The S&P/ASX 200 was down just 8.1 points at 8,318.90 points as of 10.30 AEDT.
Over the last five days, the index has gained 0.30% and is currently 2.30% off its 52-week high.
Sectors were mixed, with utilities (0.46%), information technology (0.11%), energy (0.06%), industrials (0.05%) and materials (0.04%) remaining in the green.
Aluminium giant Alcoa (ASX:AAI) climbed 3.15% to $62.60, while Lynas Rare Earths (ASX:LYC) slipped 4.8% to $6.75 and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) edged back 1.5% to $117.82.
This follows fourth-quarter production results and news reports that Rio Tinto and Glencore are in talks over a potential merger that would create a mining house that surpasses BHP (ASX:BHP).
Early small cap movers included Critical Resources (ASX:CRR) with a 20% tick up to $0.006 and potash explorer APC Minerals (ASX:APC), formerly Australian Potash, which added 18.18% to trade at $0.013.
Gold climbed back up above US$2,700 ($4,348) an ounce and iron ore added 2.2% as stronger demand provided support for metals.
ANZ economists say gold climbed to a five-month high as lower inflation in the US raised the prospect of further US rate cuts.
On the ANZ China Commodity Index, precious metals rose 0.7%, industrial metals climbed 0.9% and bulks were up 0.5%.
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
