Australia: Shares snap 3-day losing streak as silver shines

[SYDNEY] Australian shares closed higher on Monday, helped by gains in precious metal stocks, with silver prices at a near six-month high as retail investors piled into the commodity in what appeared to be social media-hyped buying.

The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.8 per cent higher to 6,663 at market close, reversing a 1.4 per cent fall earlier in the session and snapping a three-day losing streak.

Silver, traditionally considered a safe-haven asset, rose 7 per cent after social media-driven investors flooded into the market to recreate the frenzy that led to a meteoric rise in GameStop shares last week.

"Silver is a very heavily shorted commodity. So, if the Reddit crowd does focus their attention on that, you are going to find silver miners continue to rally very high, and that will lift other commodities and metals with it," said Brad Smoling, Managing Director at Smoling Stockbroking.

"I would not be surprised to see silver well over 100 US dollars by mid-year," he added.

Shares of silver miners like Argent Minerals and Boab Metals soared.

Gold stocks also jumped, with Alkane Resources and West African Resources rising 3.8 per cent and 5.5 per cent, respectively.

Miners rose 1.5 per cent after three consecutive sessions of losses.

Domestically, Australian job advertisements rose to their highest since April 2019, indicating solid employment gains will continue this year, bolstering positive sentiment.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 fell 0.2 per cent to 13,097.25 points.

REUTERS