Santa rally lifts ASX to five-week high as gold, copper hit records
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The news: The Australian sharemarket rallied to a five-week high as record copper and gold prices kicked off an eagerly awaited traditional 'Santa Claus' rally in a Christmas-shortened week.
The benchmark ASX 200 rose 0.91% to end at 8,699.9 with all 11 sectors finishing in the green.
The materials sector (+2.3%) led gains as commodities rallied to fresh records, with copper approaching $US12,000 a tonne, on track for its biggest annual gain since 2009, gold hitting an all-time high of $US4,383 an ounce on geopolitical tensions and rate cut expectations, and silver climbing to a record $US68.48 an ounce.
BHP (+1.6%), Rio Tinto (+1%), Newmont (+5.2%) and West African Resources (+7.8%) all advanced. The energy sector (+1.45%) also saw outsized gains led by uranium stocks Paladin (+7%) and Nexgen Energy (+8.6%).
Biggest movers:
- NextDC (+7%) – Announced new contract wins, with pro-forma utilisation increasing by 90MW (30%) to 412MW since 1 December, expanding its forward order book to 301MW.
- Nick Scali (+11%) – Upgraded profit guidance for the December half, with first-half revenue in Australia and New Zealand now expected to rise 10-12% (up from 7-9%), lifting net profit guidance to $37m-$39m from $33m-$35m.
Other news:
- Seven West Media – Shareholders approved a scheme of arrangement (99.36% in favour) for Southern Cross Media's takeover, with shares expected to be suspended from trading at close on Christmas Eve.
- Regis Healthcare (-1%) – CEO Linda Mellors announced her resignation to pursue a career opportunity outside the aged care sector, with a six-month notice period.
- Origin Energy – Taken to court by the Australian Energy Regulator for allegedly overcharging 3,400 Centrelink recipients more than $2.5 million between December 2019 and March 2025.
- DroneShield – Announced mandatory minimum shareholding requirements for directors and a governance overhaul following earlier director sales that triggered panic-selling.
- Gentrack – Published its 2025 annual report revealing CEO Gary Miles received NZD17.3 million ($15.05 million) in total remuneration after long-term incentives vested.
What's ahead:
• The Reserve Bank of Australia will release the minutes from its December 9 monetary policy meeting on Tuesday at 11:30am AEDT.
