ASX starts higher; IDP Education, copper, gold miners rally
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More news: Australian shares started higher in morning trade as gold miners rallied higher on high commodity prices and IDP Education led gains following analyst backing.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 23.3 points to 8,886.1 at 10:40am AEST. Eight of the 11 sectoral indices were in positive territory.
The materials sector (+1.5%) was the best performing as gold miners Capircorn Metals (+3.2%), Ramelius Resources (+2.9%) and Emerald Resources (+2.2%) were among the top 10 best performing stocks on the ASX 200. The spot price of gold remained near record highs.
Copper mining businesses Capstone Copper (+3.9%), South32 (+2.8%) and BHP (+2.4%) were also in the top 10. Copper prices posted their biggest weekly gain in three months last week amid global supply issues.
Alumina producer Alcoa (+2.3%) also posted gains despite announcing the permanent closure of its Kwinana refinery in Western Australia would register a USD890 million ($1.35 billion) hit in the third quarter of 2025.
IDP Education (+11.8%) was the biggest gainer on the ASX 200 after a Jefferies analyst upgraded their position to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ and lifted the target share price by 72% to $8.60. The analyst flagged that web traffic data for English proficiency test IELTS turned positive for the first time since 2023, which could be a signal of a macro turnaround for IELTS.
Australian shares to lift as Wall Street edges higher amid shutdown threat
The news: Australian shares are set to lift at the open after US stocks posted modest gains amid a stand-off between Republicans and Democrats which could lead to a government shutdown and delay the release of key labour-market data, potentially clouding views on interest rates.
The numbers: Updated at 7:40am AEST:
- ASX futures: up 16 points to 8,910
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 0.15%, S&P 500 up 0.26% and Nasdaq up 0.48%
- Europe: CAC 40 up 0.13%, DAX up 0.02% and FTSE 100 up 0.16%
- Spot gold: up 1.96% to USD3,834 per ounce
- Oil prices: Brent down 3.54% at USD67.65/bbl and US WTI down 3.45% to USD63.45/bbl
- AUD: up 0.52% to 65.76 US cents
- Bitcoin: up 2.94% to USD114,210.
The context: The US government is due to have its funding measures expire on 1 October if Republican and Democrat lawmakers cannot agree on a short-term funding bill. US President Donald Trump’s administration has threatened to use an ensuing government shutdown to fire a slew of workers from federal agencies.
The shutdown could also delay the release of key labour-market data that is used to gauge the health of the US economy, potentially clouding investors’ views on how fast the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates.
This includes the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ September payroll and employment data scheduled for release on Friday evening (AEST). August data for the job openings and labour turnover survey is scheduled for release on Tuesday.
