The S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.2% to around 8,700 on Wednesday, extending the previous session’s gains, as miners and gold stocks led the market higher. The heavyweight mining sector climbed 1.7%, with BHP advancing 1.3%, while Rio Tinto added 0.6% after securing $1.18 billion in financing for a lithium project in Argentina. Gold miners rose 1.4% amid firmer bullion prices, led by Northern Star, which gained 2.8%.
Banking stocks also strengthened, adding 0.7%, with the four major banks rising between 0.3% and 0.8%. In contrast, technology stocks mostly weighed on the index, mirroring declines in their Wall Street counterparts.
Investors also assessed conflicting signals about the duration and intensity of the conflict in the Middle East. While President Trump indicated that military operations against Iran may be nearing an end, US officials suggested that military activity was intensifying and that prospects for diplomacy remained limited.
