Australia's share market is trading at nine-week highs after notching a fourth straight session of gains, buoyed by investor appetite for miners and commodities stocks.
Australia's share market is trading at nine-week highs after notching a fourth straight session of gains, buoyed by investor appetite for miners and commodities stocks.
The S&P/ASX200 rose 41.1 points on Thursday, up 0.47 per cent, to 8,861.7, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 32.4 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 9,184.2.
Australia's leading indexes shrugged off two consecutive weak Wall Street sessions to post their highest daily closes in 49 days.
"This resilience is largely thanks to the resurgent ASX200 materials sector, which delivered its third successive fresh record high this week," IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said.
"The sector is up an impressive 8.5 per cent month-to-date driven by irrepressible demand for industrial and precious metals."
Raw materials led six of 11 local sectors higher with a 1.1 per cent push, supported by strength in iron ore giants BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue, while a big four bank advance helped push financials stocks 0.5 per cent higher.
BHP shares soared to their highest price since January 2024, settling 2.6 per cent higher to $49.37 by the close and narrowing in on the Commonwealth Bank's position as Australia's biggest company.
Bluescope shares jumped more than four per cent to $31 after investment giant Macquarie Group raised their price target for the steel producer to $34.05.
The boost came a day after Bluescope flagged plans to hand back $438 million in excess cash to shareholders, having rejected a takeover bid from Ryan Stokes' SGH Group and US-based producer Steel Dynamics.
Gold miners were mixed despite the precious metal hitting a fresh record overnight near $US4,643 ($A6,954) an ounce, with Northern Star up 1.4 per cent while most of the sub-sector edged lower.
ANZ was the best of the big banks, up 2.6 per cent to $37.32, followed by NAB with a 1.1 per cent lift as Westpac and CBA each gained roughly 0.5 per cent.
Major insurers were broadly lower, while payment providers Zip and Afterpay owner Block were among the worst of the bigger players in the sector, down 5.8 per cent and 3.2 per cent respectively.
The energy sector surged to five-week highs during the session, despite a pullback in oil prices as US President Donald Trump claimed killings in Iran's nationwide crackdown on protesters were easing, tempering fears of US military intervention stoked a day earlier.
Woodside and Santos claimed modest gains, while coal producers and uranium stocks had a mixed session.
ASX-listed IT stocks came under renewed pressure, tumbling more than two per cent and tracking with weakness in Wall Street's tech-heavy Nasdaq, following renewed fears around artificial intelligence spending.
Tracking app Life360 slumped more than four per cent, while shares in accounting software Xero gave up a similar amount.
The healthcare sector is still trying climb its way out from multi-year lows, up 0.6 per cent on Thursday as segment giant CSL clawed back one per cent of 2025's nearly 40 per cent losses.
The Australian dollar is buying 66.77 US cents, down from 66.95 US cents on Wednesday at 5pm.
ON THE ASX:
* The S&P/ASX200 rose 41.1 points, or 0.47 per cent, to 8,861.7
* The broader All Ordinaries rose by 32.4 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 9,184.2
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:
One Australian dollar trades for:
* 66.76 US cents, from 66.95 US cents at 5pm AEDT on Wednesday
* 105.79 Japanese yen, from 106.65 Japanese yen
* 57.38 euro cents, from 57.49 euro cents
* 49.73 British pence, from 49.82 British pence
* 116.42 NZ cents, from 116.57 NZ cents
