Australia: Shares end higher on commodities boost

AUSTRALIAN shares closed higher on Tuesday (Sep 27) after a steep sell-off in the previous session, as a commodity rally-led strength in resources stocks outweighed weak sentiment due to global recession worries.

The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.4 per cent higher. The benchmark fell 1.6 per cent on Monday.

Investors worldwide continued to remain on the back foot, after US central bank officials signalled that their priority remained in controlling searing price pressures, shrugging off volatility in global markets.

“The market sentiment cautiously stabilised into the new trading week after the shock wave, but it was far away from all smooth sailing,” Hebe Chen, a market analyst from IG Markets said.

Matt Simpson, a senior market analyst from StoneX, also flagged that the S&P 500 and Nasdaq held above their June lows on Monday, meaning it was likely that the benchmark was also going to hold above its June low on Tuesday.

Miners led the gains, rising about 2.9 per cent, tracking higher iron ore prices in China. Index majors Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals and BHP Group advanced between 2.1 and 5.1 per cent.

Similarly, energy stocks firmed 1.7 per cent, with sector leaders Woodside Energy and Santos climbing 1.7 per cent and 1.5 per cent, respectively.

The gold index also shone, rising 1.5 per cent on higher bullion prices due to a relatively weaker dollar. Newcrest Mining and Northern Star Resources gained 1.5 per cent and 1.7 per cent.

Separately, Star Entertainment rose 1.1 per cent, after the company said it had developed a remediation plan, after it was found unfit to hold a casino licence in Sydney.

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Australia: Shares rise on mining, energy boost

However, these gains were countered by losses in the other indexes, such as financials, which fell 0.3 per cent, with 3 of the “Big Four” banks losing between 0.3 and 0.7 per cent.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 1.9 per cent to finish the session at 11,214.5 points. REUTERS