ASX ends higher as Santos, NAB surge; gold miners plunge
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The news: The Australian sharemarket closed higher as energy stocks paced a broad rally across the market.
The benchmark ASX 200 rose 65.8 points, or 0.75%, to end at 8,848.7. Nine of the 11 sectors finished in the green.
Energy (+3%) stocks surged as oil and gas giant Santos (+5.3%) posted a jump in quarterly production.
Materials (-1.7%) was the worst performing sector as gold miners shed gains from Wednesday and iron ore producer Fortescue (-5.1%) tanked after a softer-than-expected trading update.
Biggest movers:
- DroneShield (+9.5%) – Received a price target upgrade from Bell Potter, with analyst Baxter Kirk calling 2026 "the year of the drone".
- Pantoro Gold (-11.2%) – Expects FY26 gold production to be at the lower end of its guidance range of 100,000-110,000 ounces.
Other news:
- ANZ (+0.6%) – Confirmed 197 Suncorp Bank roles will be impacted by changes across multiple divisions, with 66 staff expected to lose their jobs.
- NAB (+3%) – Led a rally in the big banks after Macquarie upgraded its rating on the lender to 'outperform' and the banking sector to 'neutral'.
- South32 (+5.3%) – Reiterated its FY26 production guidance after delivering a 3% gain in first-half alumina production and costs in line with guidance.
- Netwealth (-3.8%) – Reported a 23.6% increase in funds under administration to $125.6 billion for the December quarter.
- Generation Development Group (-6%) – Saw a surge in funds under management in its Evidentia Group and Generation Life businesses in the December quarter.
