ASX closes higher; IGO leads lithium surge as battery demand forecasts lift
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The news: The Australian sharemarket finished higher as lithium miners pushed the materials sector higher amid rising demand for battery energy storage systems.
The benchmark ASX 200 rose 0.19% to end at 8,634.6 with five of the 11 sectors finishing in the green.
The materials sector (+0.8%) was the best performing as IGO (+7.1%), Mineral Resources (+4.6%), Liontown (+4.8%) and Pilbara Minerals (+1.9%) all finished higher. UBS analysts have increased their price forecasts.
The discretionary sector (-1.1%) was the worst performing as Premier Investments (-15.9%) was the biggest loser on the ASX 200 after announcing softer-than-expected guidance for the first-half period. Wesfarmers (-1%), Aristocrat Leisure (-1.4%) and Eager Automotive (-3.6%) also fell.
Other news:
- NextDC (+3.1%) – Signed a memorandum of understanding with OpenAI on the planning, development and operation of a more than $7 billion “hyperscale AI campus and large-scale GPU supercluster” at the proposed S7 development site in Eastern Creek, Sydney.
- Northern Star Resources (+0.9%) – Reaffirmed its $225 million exploration budget for FY26 after recent drilling results pointed to new organic growth opportunities.
- Macquarie Group (-0.6%) – Appointed London-based William Vereker as an independent non-executive director of the company, effective 1 February 2026.
- AGL (-0.8%) – Will discontinue feasibility studies for its proposed 2.5 gigawatt wind project off the coast of Gippsland.
What’s ahead:
- The US Bureau of Economic Analysis will release core personal consumption expenditure price index data for September on Saturday at 2:00am AEDT.
- The University of Michigan will release preliminary consumer sentiment data and inflation expectations data for December on Saturday at 2:00am AEDT.
