ASX closes higher; Lynas Rare Earths leads gains following China export ban
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The news: The Australian sharemarket finished higher as Lynas Rare Earths led gains after China imposed an immediate export ban on dual military and civilian use items to Japan, including rare earth elements.
The benchmark ASX 200 rose 0.15% to end at 8,695.6 despite nine of the 11 sectors finishing in the green.
The tech sector (+1.5%) was the best performing as WiseTech Global (+2%) gained after announcing it had signed an MoU with US-based logistics company ELM Global. Xero (+1.4%), NextDC (+1.2%) and Life360 (+1.8%) also posted gains.
The energy sector (-2.3%) was the worst performing sector as Woodside Energy (-2.6%), Santos (-2.8%), Ampol (-2.4%), Beach Energy (-3.5%) and Karoon Energy (-3.8%) tracked oil prices lower after US President Donald Trump said Venezuela would send up to 50 million barrels of oil to the US.
Biggest movers:
- Lynas Rare Earths (+14.5%) – Led gains on the ASX 200 after China’s Ministry of Commerce announced a ban on dual-use exports, including rare earth elements, to Japan following comments made by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi relating to a hypothetical invasion of Taiwan.
- 4DMedical (+11.9%) – Announced a commercial agreement with US-based academic health system UC San Diego Health for the clinical use of its medical imaging software, CT:VQ.
- HMC Capital (+6.6%) – Received Victorian government approval for its Kentbruck Wind Farm project which will include up to 105 turbines and generate about 2,000 gigawatt hours of energy each year.
- Greatland Resources (+5.6%) – Provided a preliminary quarterly production update for the December 2025 quarter, outlining higher production of gold and copper than the September quarter.
- West African Resources (+3.8%) – Met its production guidance for calendar year 2025 and achieved a full-year production record.Bellevue Gold (-6.4%) – Reiterated its FY26 production guidance despite flagging delays to mine development at the end of the December quarter.
Other news:
- Capricorn Metals (+1.9%) – Reported a quarterly gold production at its Karlawinda Gold Project that was in line with its FY26 mine plan.
- Magellan Financial Group (+1.3%) – Assets under management declined by about $300 million in the three months to 31 December 2025.
- Macquarie Technology Group (+0.1%) – Announced the retirement of long-serving chair Peter James and the appointment of non-executive director Lisa Brock as his successor.
What’s ahead:
- Automatic Data Processing will release US non-farm employment data for December on Thursday at 12:15am AEDT.
- The Institute for Supply Management will release services sector purchasing manager’s index data for December on Thursday at 2:00am AEDT.
- The US Bureau of Labor Statistics will release job openings data for November on Thursday at 2:00am AEDT.
