ASX closes higher as gold rally offsets oil slump
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The news: The Australian sharemarket finished higher as buoyant gold mining stocks offset losses taken by oil producers as both tracked the fortunes of relevant commodity prices. Australia’s four biggest lenders also gained.
The benchmark ASX 200 rose 0.68% to end at 8,864.9 with seven out of the 11 sectors finishing in green.
The materials sector (+1.5%) finished higher with gold miners tracking gains in the spot price of the commodity which remained near its record high amid expectations the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next week.
Bellevue Gold (+7.2%) and Regis Resources (+6.4%) were the best performing stocks on the ASX 200. Northern Star Resources (+1.6%), the largest gold miner by market cap, also gained. Mining majors BHP (+1.3%), Fortescue (+0.9%) and Rio Tinto (+1.1%) also finished higher.
The finance sector (+1.2%) was buoyed by Commonwealth Bank (+1.3%), NAB (+1.2%), Westpac (+1.4%) and ANZ (+1.1%)
The energy sector (-2.4%) was the worst performing as Woodside (-3.4%) and Santos (-2.2%) tracked oil prices lower amid growing oversupply forecasts. Oil producers Beach Energy (-3.3%) and Karoon Energy (-2.7%) were also among the biggest losers on the ASX 200.
Woodside also secured final federal environmental approval to extend the life of its North West Shelf gas project from 2030 to 2070, subject to 48 environmental conditions.
Biggest movers:
- Ventia (+5.6%) – Announced a $100 million contract extension with the City of Sydney on Friday and a $2.7 billion contract with the Department of Defence on Thursday.
- PolyNovo (-1.4%) – Following a randomised controlled trial, the biotech concluded the use of its NovoSorb BTM product in combination with the existing standard of care can speed up the healing process of diabetic related wounds and ulcers by more than four months. However, some study results were not statistically significant.
Board moves:
- Dexus (+1.2%) – Jason Weate has been appointed Dexus Asset Management’s head of listed funds and will commence as the new fund manager of the Dexus Industria REIT (+0.7%) on 1 November 2025. Incumbent Dexus Industria REIT fund manager Gordon Korkie will move into a deputy fund manager role.
- Dexus Convenience Retail REIT (-1%) – Weate is currently the fund manager of the Dexus Convenience Retail REIT. He will be replaced by Pat De Maria on 1 November 2025.
- Bapcor (-0.3%) – Former Linfox chief executive Annette Carey will join the board of automotive parts and accessories provider on 1 October 2025.
Other news:
- APA Group (+0.3%) – The Australian Energy Regulator’s draft ruling for the Basslink undersea electricity cable’s value and forecast revenue over five years is lower than APA anticipated. The regulated asset value is $32 million lower at $720.5 million and the forecast revenue is about $14 million lower at $442.8 million.
What’s ahead:
- The University of Michigan will release preliminary US consumer sentiment and inflation expectations data for September at midnight.
- The National Bureau of Statistics of China will release industrial production and retail sales data for August on Monday at 12:00pm AEST.
- The Tokyo Stock Exchange will not trade on Monday because it is a public holiday in Japan. The country will be celebrating Respect for the Aged Day in honour of elderly citizens.
