BHP, Fortescue and Rio Tinto rise 2% as iron ore prices lift
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The news: Australia's largest iron ore miners BHP, Fortescue and Rio Tinto rallied as iron ore futures rose, after they all reported weaker-than-expected earnings earlier this week.
The numbers: Rio Tinto (2.8%), Fortescue (2.6%) and BHP (2.3%) were all trading higher at 3:10pm AEDT. Materials, up 1.5%, was the best performing sector as the ASX 200 index fell 0.3%.
Iron ore futures were up 0.4% to USD108.35 a tonne on the Singapore Exchange.
The context: The rally follows declines by each of the mining giants this week, as an earlier downturn in realised prices for iron ore weighed on earnings.
On Tuesday, BHP reported lower-than-expected first-half profit and slashed its interim dividend. On Thursday, Fortescue more than halved its first-half net profit and interim dividend, while Rio Tinto reported an 8% decline in full-year underlying earnings and declared its lowest total dividend since 2019.
