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Briefing

Market Wrap

ASX closes higher; Capstone Copper leads mining gains

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The news: The Australian sharemarket finished higher as miners lifted on surging copper prices. However, this was partially offset by the real estate sector as higher than expected monthly household spending data increased the risk of an interest rate increase in early 2026.

The benchmark ASX 200 rose 0.27% to end at 8,618.4 with five of the 11 sectors finishing in the green.

The materials sector (+1%) was the best performing as copper miner Capstone Copper (+8%) led gains on the ASX 200 amid surging commodity prices. South32 (+3.9%), BHP (+3.6%), Rio Tinto (+3.9%) and Sandfire Resources (+3%) were also higher.

Lithium miners and rare earths miners were among the biggest losers on the ASX 200. This includes Liontown (-6%), Pilbara Minerals (-4.1%), IGO (-3.6%), Iluka Resources (-4.8%) and Lynas Rare Earths (-4.2%). Gold miners also fell with Regis Resources (-5%) and Northern Star (-3.7%) among the biggest losers.

The rate-sensitive real estate sector (-2.1%) was the worst performing as Dexus (-3.9%), HomeCo Daily Needs (-2.9%), Goodman Group (-2.7%), Scentre group (-1.9%) and Stockland (-1.9%) all fell. Higher than expected monthly household spending indicator data has elevated the risk of a rate hike in early 2026.

Biggest movers:

Other news:

  • Nuix (+1.1%) – Agreed to buy graph-powered AI decision platform Linkurious for $35.4 million.
  • Bendigo Bank (+0.5%) – Agreed to buy RACQ Bank's retail lending assets and deposits, comprising $2.7 billion in retail loans and $2.5 billion in retail deposits.
  • ASX Limited (-0.1%) – Appointed former Revolut Australia director Dee McGrath as a new non-executive of its board.
  • Pro Medicus (-1%) – Confirmed that it incurred a data breach by an unknown third party in July, potentially affecting the personally identifiable information of around 100 current or former Pro Medicus employees.
  • Mayne Pharma (-2.4%) – Moved to officially terminate the deal to be acquired by Cosette Pharmaceuticals, accusing the reluctant suitor of making “wilful and intentional” material breaches of the scheme implementation deed which prevented FIRB approval.
  • Regis Healthcare (-3.9%) – Agreed to sell two of its residential aged care homes in Far North Queensland to not-for-profit provider Ozcare for $25 million.

What’s ahead:

  • The US Department of Labor will release weekly unemployment claims data on Friday at 12:30am AEDT.

By Brandon How