ASX pops to a six-month high as investors ring in Christmas cheer

Mining giants BHP (up 0.8 per cent), Fortescue (up 1.1 per cent) and Rio Tinto (up 0.3 per cent) rose, while gold miners Newmont (up 3.3 per cent) and Northern Star Resources (up 1.6 per cent) traded positively after facing significant losses last week as the gold price tumbled to its lowest price in a month.

Woodside Energy (up 1.6 per cent) and Santos (up 1.3 per cent) propped up the energy sector.

Mineral explorer Deep Yellow (up 7 per cent) recouped some of the losses it faced last week, after telling shareholders it wouldn’t make a final investment decision on its Tumas uranium mine in Namibia until early March amid delayed costings and quotes for equipment and construction.

The laggards

Shares in EML Payments fell 22.2 per cent, after the board sacked chief executive Ron Hynes. In an announcement to shareholders, the board said it had found that “alternate leadership is required to execute the company’s strategy”.

New Zealand utility giants Mercury (down 4.5 per cent) and Meridian Energy (down 1.7 per cent) both slid, weighing down gains from the rest of the sector.

The lowdown

Better than expected core personal consumption expenditure inflation data – released in the US on Friday – positioned the ASX for a strong performance on Monday, after a difficult week spurred on by the prospect of fewer interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve in 2025 than previously expected.

Moomoo market strategist Jessica Amir said that softer inflation figures gave the “green light” for another surge to occur. “Santa has put his suit back on, and the Christmas rally that everyone wanted has come into play,” Amir said.

Trading was at risk ahead of the Christmas week, with the market operator unable to resolve a technical issue with the CHESS system used for processing investor trades until Sunday.

Meanwhile in the US, the S&P500 rose 1.1 per cent on Friday to post its best day in six weeks and shave its loss for the week down to 2 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 498 points, or 1.2 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1 per cent.

Superstar stock Nvidia and other big tech companies led the market, which got a lift after the release of Friday’s inflation figures.

Tweet of the day

Quote of the day

“This agreement is a victory for News Corp shareholders, DAZN, and sports fans in Australia and around the world.”

News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson, in a message to shareholders announcing an agreement to sell Foxtel to DAZN for $3.4 billion. News Corp will hold a 6 per cent equity interest in DAZN and hold a seat on the company’s board of directors as part of the deal. Shares in News Corp rose 3.3 per cent on Monday.

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Stephenson, who announced his resignation from Nine Entertainment (the owner of this masthead) last week after 18 years at the company, lands at ARN as it’s looking to free up cash after signing Kyle Sandilands and Jackie “O” Henderson to a landmark $200 million contract.

With AP

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