Materials sector rallies as commodities prices surge
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The news: Miners led gains in morning trade on the ASX, boosted by advances in gold, iron ore and base metals prices.
The numbers: Materials was the best performing sector and the only sector in green by 11:50am AEDT, adding 0.11% as the wider market fell 0.42%.
Gold miners West African Resources (3.4%), Genesis Minerals (2.5%) and Perseus Mining (1.9%) made up three of the top 10 performing stocks across the ASX as spot gold lifted 0.26%.
Mineral Resources (2.8%) led a rally by iron ore miners, as Fortescue (0.7%) and Rio Tinto (0.4%) edged higher with BHP trading flat. Australia's largest pure-play lithium miner Pilbara Minerals added 1.9%.
Elsewhere, uranium heavyweights Paladin Energy (2.7%), Boss Energy (1.6%) and Deep Yellow (0.4%) all notched gains.
The context: Gold futures rose overnight as heightened tensions in the Russia-Ukraine war triggered a move to safe-haven assets. Iron ore futures also gained as the US dollar weakened and Chinese steelmakers restocked to maintain production in January, Commonwealth Bank economic analysts said.
Base metal prices climbed, with copper and aluminium futures gaining on China's plan to remove a tax refund on exports of some aluminium products.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the launch of the India-Australia Renewable Energy Partnership this morning, designed to boost two-way investment in renewable energy projects, including lithium-based battery processing.
Investors also reacted to an update on Paladin's proposed acquisition of Canadian explorer Fission Uranium and expected upgrades at Boss' flagship Honeymoon Uranium project in South Australia.
The sources: CBA research, Prime Minister's Office
