Rio Tinto, BHP lead ASX mining rally
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The news: Australian miners rallied on the ASX, defying a broader market sell-off, as iron ore heavyweights Rio Tinto and BHP led gains.
The numbers: Materials, up 0.86%, was the only sector in green by 12:45pm AEDT as the ASX 200 sunk 0.62%.
Iron ore majors Rio Tinto (2.1%), BHP (1.2%), Fortescue (0.6%) and Champion Iron (0.5%) all advanced, tracking iron ore futures, which climbed 0.92% to USD97.95 ($157.97) a tonne in Singapore. BlueScope Steel was also up 1.5%.
Among the top 5 performing ASX 200 stocks were mineral sands explorer Iluka Resources (3.9%), coal miner Coronado Global Resources (3.1%), copper and nickel producer Sandfire Resources (2.8%) and nickel miner Nickel Industries (2.2%).
The context: Iron ore futures continued to extend from overnight after China's latest stimulus measures and accelerated purchases by steel mills, according to CBA's economics research.
The source: CBA economics research
