ASX Today Live News & Analysis

Australia's share market has clutched a third straight session of gains, riding on the coat tails of red-hot copper producers and an afternoon recovery for the banks.

The S&P/ASX200 rose 23.2 points on Thursday, up 0.27 per cent to 8,618.4, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 12.5 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 8,906.7.

"We seem to be a little bit on hold, and that makes sense given what we've got coming up," Moomoo market strategist Michael McCarthy told AAP.

"Of course, we're expecting a drop in US rates and people are positioned ahead of that, this next big market event, and now we're waiting."

Conversely, local rates markets brought forward their expectations of interest rate hikes, fully pricing a 25 basis point increase by November 2026 and dragging on rate-sensitive sectors.

Mining stocks were by far the best-performing segment, up 0.9 per cent on the back of record copper prices, while developer-exposed real estate plays led property stocks lower against a backdrop of high construction costs and a gloomier borrowing cost outlook.

Goodman Group (down 2.7 per cent), Dexus (down 4.0 per cent) and Charter Hall (down 3.2 per cent) were heavy in a segment-wide sea of red.

Copper producers and copper-exposed stocks were the stars of the day, with Capstone, South32, BHP, Rio Tinto and Sandfire carving out five of the six best performances of the top-200 with rallies of between three and eight per cent.

The base metal has surged to record highs on fears US tariffs will trigger a global supply squeeze, catapulting Rio Tinto shares to a fresh record high above $140 per share.

All that glittered was not gold, as the precious metal retreated from recent highs to buy $US4,190 ($A6,337) an ounce, weighing on Northern Star, which tumbled more than three per cent.

Pantoro Gold took the top-200's wooden spoon with a 6.6 per cent tumble and is down more than 15 per cent since key shareholder Tulla Resources unloaded a hefty chunk of stock earlier in the week. Incidentally, the slump relegated the miner from the ASX200.

Rare earths and lithium producers also sold off as investors rebalanced their materials allocations in favour of copper plays, dragging on Liontown (down 6.0 per cent), Pilbara Minerals (down 4.1 per cent) and Lynas Rare Earths (down 4.2 per cent).

Energy stocks rose 0.6 per cent, tracking with gains for Woodside and Santos as oil prices firmed on Ukrainian attacks on Russian crude infrastructure and deadlocked peace talks between the warring nations.

Coal producers ticked higher, while uranium stocks ran into some profit-taking after a somewhat rocky run-up since the same time last week.

Consumer staples were under selling pressure, down 0.9 per cent as Coles and Treasury Wines slipped more than 1.7 per cent each, while discretionaries ticked 0.2 per cent lower.

In company news, Vulcan Energy shares cratered by more than a third after a 398?million euro ($A710?million) equity raising, issuing roughly an extra 178 million shares.

The Australian dollar is trading at four-week highs of 66.11 US cents, up from 65.83 on Wednesday at 5pm, the Aussie buoyed by the shifting expectations of the Reserve Bank's road ahead, which NAB economists confirmed appeared to be narrowing.

"We continue to forecast the RBA on hold in 1H26 for now, but this forecast will be under review should evidence of a tighter labour market, more persistent price pressures or a further acceleration in domestic economic activity be realised in coming months," NAB group chief economist Sally Auld wrote in a report.

ON THE ASX:

The S&P/ASX200 rose 23.2 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 8,618.4

The broader All Ordinaries gained 12.5 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 8,906.7

The NZX 50 Lost -66.92 points (-0.50%) to 13,515.62 while the Nikkei gained 1163.74 points (2.28%) at the time of writing, to be closed at 51,028.42

Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):

Dalrymple Bay Infrastructure Limited