Miners push Australian shares higher as aluminium prices surge

Wiluna Mining

10/09/2021 02:02

Sept 10 (Reuters) - Australian shares rose on Friday, helped
by mining stocks after aluminium prices hit multi-year highs,
with investors also cheering exiting of COVID-19 lockdowns in
most regions in the state of Victoria.
    The S&P/ASX 200 index  .AXJO  rose 0.71% to 7,422.1 by 0020
GMT. 
    Majority of regions in Victoria exited lockdown on Friday,
even as the state reported its biggest single-day rise in
COVID-19 cases this year.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2QB3FB   
    Officials have also announced plans to bring Melbourne and
Sydney out of extended lockdowns in the coming weeks. 
    The top percentage gainers on the benchmark index were
Alumina Ltd  AWC.AX , up 5.85%, as aluminium prices hit a more
than 13-year high on Thursday. Output curbs in top consumer
China and fears of disruption from major bauxite producer Guinea
have boosted prices.  MET/L  
    The ASX 300 metals and mining index  .AXMM  was up 1.18%,
with Alumina being the top gainer. 
    The top percentage loser on the benchmark was Omni Bridgeway
Ltd  OBL.AX , down 3.77%. The litigation funding group extended
losses after the Supreme Court found Seqwater found not liable
in Brisbane floods class action on Thursday. 
    A jump in bullion prices pushed the local gold index  .AXGD 
1.02% higher, with gains led by Wiluna Mining Corporation Ltd
 WMC.AX , up 5.05%, followed by Ora Banda Mining Ltd  OBM.AX ,
climbing 5​%. 
    Financial stocks  .AXFJ  rose 0.91%, led by Zip Co Ltd
 Z1P.AX , up 2.84%, followed by Challenger Ltd  CGF.AX , gaining
2.58%
    The energy index  .AXEJ  rose 0.64%, even as oil prices fell
to a two-week low after China rolled out a plan to release state
oil reserves. Leading the gains was Whitehaven Coal  WHC.AX , up
2.04%, followed by Beach Energy Ltd  BPT.AX , climbing 1.98​%.
 O/R 
    In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index  .NZ50  rose
0.15% to 13,115.
    Elsewhere, Japan's Nikkei  .N225  was up 0.56% at 30175.08
while S&P 500 E-minis futures  EScv1  were up 3.25 points, or
0.07%. 

 (Reporting by Arundhati Dutta in Bengaluru; editing by
Uttaresh.V)
 ((Arundhati.Dutta@thomsonreuters.com;))
 
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