Australia: Financials, gold stocks help shares notch 6-week high

AUSTRALIAN shares rose to a six-week high on Monday, driven by gains in index heavyweight financials and gold stocks, while Wall Street’s strong rally at the end of last week also lifted investor sentiment.

The S&P/ASX 200 index climbed 0.3 per cent to 9,017.20 by 2338 GMT, crossing the 9,000 key psychological level for the first time since Aug 25.

Financials rose 0.5 per cent, with top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia up 0.6 per cent. The remainder of the “Big Four” - Westpac, ANZ and National Australia Bank - climbed between 0.5 per cent and 0.8 per cent.

Gold-linked stocks gained more than 1 per cent to hit a record high, as bullion prices surged to a fresh peak on US rate-cut expectations and concerns surrounding the economic impact of the US government shutdown.

The sub-index has nearly doubled in value so far this year, making it the top performer on the benchmark index, which has gained over 10 per cent.

Northern Star Resources and Evolution Mining climbed 1.3 per cent and 2.1 per cent, respectively, on Monday.

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Morningstar earlier raised its fair value estimates by 5 per cent for the two bullion producers on near-term gold price outlook.

Copper miners helped the mining sub-index rise 0.5 per cent after metal prices hit a 16-month high on Friday.

Sandfire Resources gained 2.3 per cent, while Capstone Copper’s Australia-listed shares climbed 1.8 per cent.

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Market sentiment was also lifted by Wall Street’s strong gains on Friday. The S&P 500 eked out a record closing high on Friday, with rate-cut expectations holding up as the US government shutdown went on for a third day.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index inched 0.1 per cent higher to 13,528.63, ahead of a widely expected quarter-point interest rate cut by the country’s central bank on Wednesday. AFP