Australian shares hit record high as miners rally on US-Iran optimism
Published Thu, Aug 6, 2026 · 10:13 AM
AUSTRALIAN shares rose to a record high on Thursday (Aug 6), underpinned by heavyweight miners, as risk appetite remained buoyant on prospects of a US-Iran peace deal that could end the five-month-long war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.7 per cent at 9,291.30 points, as of 1226 GMT. The benchmark climbed nearly 1 per cent on Wednesday to touch an all-time-high closing level.
US President Donald Trump said there was an “all-day negotiation” on Tuesday with Iran, characterising the talks positively, which triggered a further fall in US Treasury yields and kept global oil prices pinned below recent highs.
On the bourse, Australian miners jumped 2.2 per cent to their highest level since Jun 19.
Heavyweights Rio Tinto, Fortescue and BHP added between 1 per cent and 1.4 per cent, as copper prices hit a three-month high and iron ore futures broke a declining streak the previous day.
Separately, Swiss mining giant Glencore said on Wednesday it would seek a secondary listing on the Australian Securities Exchange, targeting admission in October.
If approved, the move would further increase the benchmark index’s already heavy weighting towards mining stocks.
Gold producers surged 5.7 per cent as bullion touched its highest level in seven weeks on lower US Treasury yields
Shares of Evolution Mining and Northern Star Resources climbed more than 6 per cent each.
The “Big Four” banks climbed around 0.5 per cent each, with financials recouping from recent losses after a 0.6 per cent rise.
Energy stocks declined 1.8 per cent.
Information technology stocks dropped 1.3 per cent after strong gains in the previous session, tracking losses in Wall Street’s tech-heavy Nasdaq as SpaceX and AMD stumbled following their quarterly earnings.
WiseTech Global fell 2.5 per cent, while Xero edged 0.4 per cent lower.
Among individual stocks, AMP hit its highest point in over seven years after the wealth manager posted a 33 per cent increase in first-half underlying profit after tax and also announced an A$150 million (US$105.83 million) share buyback plan.
New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index edged 0.1 per cent lower to 13,982.06 points. REUTERS
