Australian shares staged their strongest one-day advance in six weeks on Thursday, with the S&P/ASX 200 closing up 1.1 per cent at 8,945.9 as gold miners surged on fresh record bullion prices and the big four banks snapped a recent run of weakness.
Materials led, tech lagged
The materials sector climbed 1.8 per cent, paced by Northern Star Resources, Evolution Mining and Ramelius Resources after spot gold pushed above US$3,890 an ounce. Traders cited safe-haven demand tied to a prolonged United States federal funding impasse and renewed debate about Middle East supply routes. BHP Group rebounded 1.1 per cent after a softer prior session, while lithium names were mixed as investors weighed Chinese stimulus headlines against inventory builds.
Financials added 1.2 per cent even after Commonwealth Bank dealt with a brief digital banking outage in the morning. ANZ Group rose about 2 per cent and Westpac Banking Corporation gained, helped by a rotation back into dividend-heavy names after weeks of bond-yield anxiety. Macquarie Group traded higher on advisory pipeline optimism, though wealth-platform stocks were only modestly firmer.
Macro cross-currents
The rally unfolded alongside softer-than-expected August household spending data and a narrower trade surplus, reminders that the domestic economy is not firing on all cylinders. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported goods exports fell 7.8 per cent in August while imports rose 3.2 per cent, pulling the monthly surplus down to about $1.8 billion, well short of economist forecasts near $6 billion.
Yet global cues dominated the opening hour. Wall Street’s healthcare-led push higher on Wednesday night set a constructive tone, and S&P Global’s final September composite purchasing managers index for Australia held at 52.4, signalling continued expansion in services even as manufacturing stayed subdued.
Single-stock moves worth noting
News Corporation shares fell roughly 5 per cent after the media conglomerate’s latest strategic update disappointed investors looking for faster streaming growth. Liontown Resources jumped nearly 10 per cent as supply fears eased, while defence drone maker Droneshield slid almost 10 per cent following a sharp run-up earlier in the month.
Energy stocks rose 1.1 per cent as oil prices stabilised, and healthcare added 2 per cent, echoing the United States sector leadership. Communication services was the lone decliner among the 11 sector buckets, slipping 0.03 per cent.
What Sydney desks watch next
Portfolio managers said index flows from superannuation contributions at the start of the quarter helped breadth, with seven of 11 sectors finishing higher. Futures markets pointed to a steady open on Friday, though offshore politics around the US shutdown and European energy security could quickly change that calculus.
For retail investors, the session reinforced how tightly the local bourse remains tethered to bullion when global uncertainty spikes. Until bond yields fall sustainably or earnings revisions broaden beyond miners and banks, many strategists expect the index to keep trading in a range with sharp one-day bursts rather than a clean breakout above prior records.