Feb 5, 202513:44GMT+7
Key points:
- ASX 200 gains after losing for two days
- Gold stocks hit record high
- Miners log best day in a month
(Reuters) - Australian shares regained some lost ground on Wednesday, helped by gains in mining and energy-focused stocks, a day after the country's top trading partner China took retaliatory measures responding to U.S. tariffs.
The S&P/ASX 200 indexclosed 0.5% higher at 8416.9.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday suspended tariffs on Mexico and Canada for a month, but imposed a 10% tariff on Chinese imports, prompting China to retaliate with levies on U.S. imports.
Miners, which have a roughly 25% weightage on the benchmark and are heavily exposed to China, closed 1.7% higher, after clocking their biggest intra-day jump since Dec. 10.
World's largest listed miner BHP Groupand sector heavyweights Fortescueand Rio Tintoall rose over 1.5%.
"The mining sub-index is having a snap back rally after the poor start to the year," said Damian Rooney, director of equity sales at Argonaut. The sub-index fell more than 18% in 2024.
"Iron ores led the way...on hopes that a U.S. and China trade war can be averted despite the first tariffs levied."
Energy stocksrose 1.5%, led by Karoon Energyand Boss Energy, each up over 3%.
Oil prices remain volatile amid trade war tensions, falling 3% on China's tariffs on Tuesday, although prices partially rebounded on Wednesday.
Gold minersrose as much as 1.9% to hit a record high earlier in the day, tracking strength in bullion prices.
Northern Starand Evolution Miningadvanced 1.7% and 2.1%, respectively.
Meanwhile, shares in fund-manager Insignia Financialsurged to their highest in over three years after Brookfield Capitalmatched rivals Bain Capital's and CC Capital's bid for the company.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 indexfell 0.5% to end at 12,844.6.
Sumber : Reuters