While the ASX was little changed ahead of tomorrow’s (25 March) Australian federal budget, the iron ore miners strengthened.
ANZ says in its Commodity Tracker report, steel production faces increasing headwinds from 25% tariffs and capacity cuts.
At the same time, China’s iron ore stockpiles are declining due to a slight increase in production and drop in imports.
Iron ore futures were up 2.16% as of 4.40pm AEDT.
The S&P/ASX 200 closed up just 5.7 points at 7,936.9 points, notching a five-day gain of 1.89%. However, the bourse is still down 2.72% since the start of the year.
While the materials sector dropped 0.87% on Monday (24 March), Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) and Fortescue (ASX:FMG) enjoyed some time in the sun thanks to some slightly more positive sentiment around iron ore.
MinRes added 6.9% to end the session at $24.33 after announcing operations along the Onslow Iron dedicated haul road have resumed following “constructive discussions” with WorkSafe WA regarding controls and risk mitigation.
WorkSafe was investigating another truck rollover which occurred last week. MinRes maintained its guidance for Onslow Iron for the 2025 financial year.
Meanwhile, Fortescue gained 3.23% to close at $16.30.
The industrials sector retreated 0.94% and energy slipped 0.19%. The financial sector ended the day as the top performing sector, rallying 1.06% today and 2.11% over the past five days.
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
