Gold miners lead materials rally
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The news: Gold miners led a rally by the materials sector, and account for six out of the top 10 performing ASX 200 stocks.
The numbers: Gold stocks Bellevue Gold (4.55%), Westgold Resources (4.29%), Regis Resources (4.05%), West African Resources (3.52%), Genesis Minerals (3.1%) and Capricorn Metals (2.23%) made up six of the top 10 performing ASX 200 companies by midday AEDT.
Materials, up 1.48%, was the best performing sector as the ASX 200 edged up 0.44%.
Spot gold was flat at USD2,648.50 ($4,261) per ounce, according to Bloomberg data.
The context: On Tuesday, gold prices were boosted due to weakness in the US dollar and an announcement of gold purchases by China's central bank in December, according to Bloomberg. However, it has since pared gains as the US dollar pushed higher following US economic data that reinforced a cautious approach by the US Federal Reserve to cutting interest rates this year.
Earlier today, Regis reported an increase to production in the December quarter and flagged that record gold prices had helped it to build record cash and bullion.
West African also gained after an uplift in Q4 output at its Sanbrado mine in Burkina Faso helped it to meet the upper end of its 2024 production guidance.
The source: Bloomberg
