Greatland Resources (ASX:GGP) and Capstone Copper (ASX:CSC) are top-performing stocks today on the S&P/ASX 200 index, which roared back to life by 1.71% to 8,418.70.
Greatland’s share price soared by 12.1% to $12.72 in the first 90 minutes of the Australian Securities Exchange opening for trade. Capstone was up by 10% to $11.36 a share.
The sharp rise came after two days of index point declines by 0.5% to 8,418.70, and by 1.22% to 8,412.70, respectively.
Mining multinationals BHP (ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) jumped by 5.2% to $53.04 cents and by 0.3% to $161.93 per unit respectively.
The index earlier fell sharply on 23 March by 1.73% to 8,282.90 points, 20 March 2026 by 0.33% to 8,470.10 points, and 19 March by 1.62% to 8,501 points.
“Over the last five days the index has gained 1.09% but is down 1% 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”.
“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 predict the sharemarket and commodity prices will rapidly return to pre-war levels, if US-Israel-Iran tensions progressively de-escalate.
“While [US President Donald] Trump’s desire to wind down the campaign quickly is understandable, the decision to defer the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz leaves a critical chokepoint firmly in Tehran’s hands for the foreseeable future,” IG market analyst Tony Sycamore tells the Australian Associated Press.
“Unfortunately, this also pushes back any concrete resolution regarding the Strait’s reopening, effectively extending the uncertainty weighing on markets and the broader global economy,” he adds according to the newswire agency.
Write to Richard Szabo at Mining.com.au
Images: Marcus Reubenstein via Unsplash
