FX.co ★ Australian Shares Hit One-Month High

The S&P/ASX 200 index rose by 0.6% to approximately 8,900 during Thursday morning trading, marking its highest point in a month. This upward movement was primarily driven by gains in the gold, mining, and banking sectors. Encouragement from Wall Street's overnight performance, alongside investor optimism about a brief US government shutdown, provided further impetus. Domestically, attention now turns to Australia's trade balance figures for August, anticipated to show a reduction to AUD 6.2 billion from the previous month's AUD 7.31 billion. On the exchange, gold mining companies hit new heights as gold prices surged to unprecedented levels, fueled by a weakening dollar, expectations of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, and a rush towards safe-haven assets amidst the US government shutdown. Leading the charge were major players Newmont, rising 1.4%, and Northern Star, climbing 2%. Heavyweight mining corporations also saw gains, with BHP increasing by 1% and Rio Tinto by 0.4%. Furthermore, major banks experienced a nearly 1% rise, as their quarterly returns outperformed the ASX 200 index, according to Morgan Stanley.