Mining shares have scored big as the materials sector soared on what was expected to be a sleepy day in the Australian market.
The ASX200 closed on Tuesday, gaining 33.30 points, or 0.46 per cent, to sit at 7,339.70 points.
The materials sector was the clear winner out of Tuesday’s trading, increasing its standing by 2.74 per cent, streets ahead of the next largest sector for the day, energy, up by 1.15 per cent.
Mining companies made up four of the top five shares, with Pilbara Mining seeing the biggest boost of 5.66 per cent to end trading at $4.85.
Capital goods company Monadelphous group came in second after increasing its price by 5.36 per cent to $13.17.
Chalice Mining and Sayona Mining both held the bronze position after each increasing by 5.00 per cent and Champion Iron took out fifth place with an increase of 4.96 per cent.
The boost in mining stocks came in the wake of an early announcement from China that it will use its policy tools to grapple with the prospect of deflation, low economic growth and a flailing property market.
According to market analysis Tony Sycamore, the move was a “nice little kicker for the stock market”.
“It was a good move on a day where we weren’t expecting a whole lot to happen, I think everybody started the day thinking this is going to be a bit of a boring day but as the word got out and more reports circulated… it certainly gave the ASX200 a nice push there,” he said.
The big mining stocks were also “quick to react” to the announcement.
Fortescue gained 4.55 per cent to $23.20, BHP group added 3.34 per cent to $45.82, Mineral Resources added 3.86 per cent to $70.95.
Rio Tinto added 3.41 per cent to $119.18 ahead of its HY2023 earnings report, due to be released on Wednesday afternoon.
Over the last five days, the index has gained 0.77 per cent and is currently 3.01 per cent off of its 52-week high.
“In terms of where we’re at, we’re heading towards the top of the range that the ASX200 has been in for the better part of three or four months,” Mr Sycamroe said.
Overnight, crude oil closed at $78.74, its highest level in three months, supported by Saudi and Russian production cuts and hopes that demand would be boosted by further policy support from China.
Beach Energy gained 1.67 per cent to $1.53, Woodside Energy gained 1.21 per cent to $37.70, and Santos gained 0.63 per cent to $7.95.
Not everyone was given a boost from China today, with the consumer discretionary sector dropping 0.80 per cent followed by financials which fell by 0.51 per cent.
Dragging on the consumer discretionary sector was Domino’s which fell the furthest on Tuesday, declining 5.04 per cent to $47.29.
That was followed by Credit Corp which saw its price fall by 4.29 per cent, Nufarm which fell 3.60 per cent, Star Entertainment which fell 3.24 per cent and Core Lithium which fell 2.78 per cent.
The big banks also slipped, led by Westpac which fell 1.04% to $21.73. NAB fell 0.29 per cent to $27.61, ANZ fell 0.24 per cent to $25.06, and CBA fell 0.22 per cent to $104.20.