ASX closes higher; gold miners rally as spot price breaks record
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The news: The Australian sharemarket finished higher as gold miners rallied, tracking an increase in the haven asset’s spot price as it reached a new record on Monday, while Light & Wonder surged after settling an IP lawsuit with Aristocrat.
The benchmark ASX 200 rose 0.48% to end at 8,759.4 with nine of the 11 sectors finishing in the green.
The consumer discretionary sector was the best performing as Light & Wonder (+18%) led gains on the ASX 200 stocks surged after agreeing to settle a lawsuit for $190 million and admitted that math information from rival gambling group Aristocrat Leisure (+0.3%) was used in the development of two poker machines.
However, Super Retail Group (-5.3%) shares fell after first-half profit before tax guidance of $172 million to $175 million missed consensus estimates by 7.1% driven by discounting and promotional activity during the period.
The materials sector finished slightly lower as iron ore miners BHP (-2.5%), Rio Tinto (-0.4%) and Fortescue (-1.4%) offset gold gains.
Ramelius Resources (+6.3%), Newmont Corporation (+5.8%) and Pantoro Gold (+5.2%) finished higher. The spot price of gold reached a new record of USD4,596.17 ($6,863.44) per ounce just before midday AEDT.
Demand for the haven asset has increased amid heightened geopolitical risks and after weak jobs data boosted US rate cut bets. The US Department of Justice has also opened an investigation into US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell.
Utilities was the worst performing sector as Origin Energy (-1.6%), APA Group (-2.3%), Meridian Energy (-0.8%) and AGL Energy (-1.6%) fell.
Biggest movers:
- PWR Holdings (+10%) – The automotive cooling products manufacturer secured a $13.5 million follow-on contract for a US government project.
- Regal Partners (+4.7%) – Expects to deliver normalised net profit after tax of about $145 million in 2025 following an uplift in performance fees, according to preliminary unaudited estimates.
Other news:
- Domino’s Pizza Enterprises (+3.1%) – Merrill Pereyra has been named as chief executive for Australia and New Zealand, effective 23 January. Previously announced chief financial officer George Saoud has also now started.
- Sandfire Resources (+0.6%) – Reiterated its FY26 production guidance but revealed softer-than-expected copper output for the second quarter as scheduled maintenance was brought forward.
- Suncorp Group (-2.2%) – Reiterated its FY26 natural hazards allowance of $1.77 billion as it responded to damages caused by ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji and bushfires in Victoria, with the expected total cost of natural hazard events for the first half of FY26 forecast at $1.319 billion.
What’s ahead:
- Westpac will release Australian consumer sentiment data for January on Tuesday at 10:30am AEDT.
