Friday the 13th did little to unsettle the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), which closed out the week on a high note.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed up 24.20 points, or 0.30%, at 8,099.90 points.
More sectors ended lower than higher, despite the gain in the S&P/ASX 200 Index.
Materials was the best performing sector, gaining 2.25% over the course of Friday and 4.17% over the past five days. Energy ended up 0.84% and industrials closed 0.63% higher.
The gold miners enjoyed gains after the price of the safehaven metal continued its record run, hitting US$2,560 an ounce on Friday on the back of a weaker dollar and lower bond yields.
The fresh run was also ignited by heightened expectations of more aggressive rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve next week.
Trading Economics says markets are now pricing in a 59% chance of a 25-basis-point rate cut and a 41% chance of a 50-basis-point rate reduction, up from 29% previously.
Four of the top five gainers were gold miners. Perseus Mining (ASX:PRU) rose 10.21%, West African Resources (ASX:WAF) closed out Friday 10.11% higher, Capricorn Metals (ASX:CMM) climbed 9.84% and Red 5 (ASX:RED) ended up 8.20%.
Lithium miners Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR) and Arcadium Lithium (ASX:LTM) ended the week in the red, sliding 6.29% and 5.75%, respectively. Uranium miners Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN) and Boss Energy (ASX:BOE) were down 4.29% and 2.77%, respectively.
The S&P/ASX 200 Volatility Index (VIX) rose 0.18 points, or 1.46%, to 12.41 points, crossing above its 50-day moving average. The index has lost 2.57% for the last five days, but has gained 10.45% over the last year to date.
The index has lost 2.57% for the last five days, but has gained 10.45% over the last year to date.
Also known as the ‘fear’ index, the S&P/ASX 200 VIX is a real-time volatility index that provides an insight into investor sentiment and expected levels of market volatility.
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 & iStock
