Australian shares edge higher as mining rally offsets pressure on banks

Bank of Queensland

14/10/2025 06:59

RBA cautious on further easing - minutes

Gold stocks hit record high

Rio Tinto logs higher iron ore production QoQ

Updates to close

By Adwitiya Srivastava

Oct 14 (Reuters) -
Australian shares edged higher on Tuesday as gains in gold and base metal miners offset weakness in banks and consumer stocks after the central bank struck a cautious tone on inflation and policy easing.

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO rose 0.2% to 8,899.40, following a 0.8% drop on Monday.

Minutes
 from the Reserve Bank of Australia's September meeting reinforced its cautious, data-dependent approach to inflation and spending ahead of its next policy decision in early November.

Markets now price roughly even odds of a November 4 rate cut and a 60% chance of one in December, down from 70% earlier after a stronger-than-expected inflation reading late last month. 0#AUDIRPR

The financials index .AXFJ slipped 0.5% to a two-week low, with three of the "Big Four" banks down as much as 1% each.

The slowing rate cut expectations are negative for banks primarily because lower interest rates boost the property market and home loans are a major bulk of revenue for the banks, said Junvum Kim, an Asia-Pacific senior sales trader at Saxo Markets.

"The RBA's minutes of their September meeting have raised doubts that we may end the year without another rate cut, disappointing investors," Kim said.

Consumer discretionary stocks .AXDJ fell 1% to their lowest since early August and were among the top drags.

On the other hand, the mining sub-index .AXMM climbed about 2.5%, largely driven by gold miners .AXGD that soared on bullion breaching $4,100 per ounce on U.S. rate cut prospects. GOL/

Northern Star Resources  NST.AX and Evolution Mining  EVN.AX jumped 2.8% and 1.9%, respectively.

Rio Tinto RIO.AX jumped 1.8% after it reported a sequential rise in its quarterly shipments undefined of the commodity, but said it needs a stronger push in the final quarter to achieve its annual target

BHP Group BHP.AX added 2.2%, while Fortescue FMG.AX advanced about 1.8%.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.6% to finish the session at 13,276.99 points.

($1 = 1.5439 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Adwitiya Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

 ((Adwitiya.Srivastava@thomsonreuters.com))