Miners and energy stocks push ASX higher; Origin, Lynas decline

Staff writers

Updated July 22, 2026 — 5:14pm,first published July 22, 2026 — 5:13am

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The Australian sharemarket advanced on Wednesday after Wall Street was pushed higher by gains in makers of computer chips and other winners of the artificial-intelligence boom, shrugging off inflation concerns amid the intensifying hostilities in the Middle East.

The S\&P/ASX 200 finished up 29.7 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 8823, boosted by energy companies benefiting from the latest jump in oil prices and the mining giants. The local bourse closed flat on Tuesday. The Australian dollar was trading at US$69.96.

Wall Street’s gains set the tone for the local market.AP

Energy and materials stocks pushed the ASX higher, thanks to higher prices for oil, copper and gold overnight.

Oil extended gains after US President Donald Trump played down the prospect of near-term talks with Iran while threatening broader strikes, as risks to global supply spread beyond the Middle East to the Black Sea.

Brent crude rose to trade around $US92 a barrel, climbing for a fourth day. That’s up from less than $US72 in early July, which was roughly where it was before the war with Iran. Trump vowed to respond if Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen disrupted shipping in the Red Sea and reiterated threats to strike soon at Pickaxe Mountain, a suspected Iranian nuclear site.

Local oil giants Woodside and Santos rose 1.3 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively, and refiners Ampol (up 2.1 per cent) and Viva Energy (up 1.6 per cent) also advanced. Coal producers Yancoal and Whitehaven gained 5 per cent and 1.5 per cent, respectively, as higher oil prices boost demand for coal as a fossil fuel alternative.

Beetaloo Energy Australia surged 5.9 per cent, having jumped as much as 20 per cent during the session, on news that the Northern Territory has given it 85 hectares of land to develop two “hyper-scale” AI data centre campuses. The company plans to build up to 2 gigawatts of power generation for the sites, using fuel from a massive shale gas deposit that is set to start commercial production this year.

Mining heavyweights BHP and Rio Tinto both climbed 2.5 per cent after copper futures jumped 3.3 per cent overnight. After demand for iron ore peaked, the mining giants have pivoted to the red metal to become their main earnings driver.

Copper futures on the London Metal Exchange surged close to $US14,000 a tonne overnight on signs that supply is struggling to keep up with demand, including in the key Chinese market - however they pulled back during the day as traders watched for any announcement from the White House on its plans for import tariffs on the metal.

Meanwhile, gold prices held their gains as traders monitored the war-induced threats to energy supply routes that risk stoking inflation and putting pressure on the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates. Bullion was trading at about $US4080 an ounce, after gaining almost 2 per cent the previous session. Northern Star Resources rose 3.5 per cent, while Evolution Mining jumped 4.3 per cent and Newmont added 3.5 per cent. Silver miner South32 climbed a further 4.6 per cent, adding to its 6.6 per cent rally on Tuesday.

The mining outlier this morning was Lynas Rare Earths, which slumped 3.6 per cent after the company revealed in a trading update a more than 10 per cent slump in its output of NdPR – an important alloy blend of rare earths elements crucial for making the strong magnets that power the traction motors used in electric cars and wind turbines – in the June quarter compared to a year ago, due to issues at its new Mount Weld water recycling plants and ore concentrate quality issues.

While rising oil prices boosted energy stocks, the flip side is threatening a re-acceleration of inflation, which in turn could push the US Federal Reserve and other central banks to raise interest rates, slowing economies and undercutting prices for stocks.

Real estate investment trusts, which tend to suffer when rising rates boost the returns of bonds, were trading lower, with warehouse and AI data centre owner Goodman Group down 2 per cent, Westfield shopping centres landlord Scentre down 1.5 per cent and Stockland down 1.9 per cent.

Origin fell 1.9 per cent after the nation’s biggest energy retailer said it was investigating a potential security breach that may have resulted in unauthorised access to the personal details of some of its 4.7 million Australian customers. If confirmed, the attack would be one of the worst cyberattacks in recent Australian business history.

Tech stocks gave back their gains from Tuesday, with software makers bearing the brunt of the losses. Xero, the nation’s biggest tech stock, lost 2.6 per cent. WiseTech fell 0.5 per cent after saying it bought a developer of AI-powered supply chain risk and compliance intelligence technology for $10 million and shares, and Technology One dropped 2.3 per cent.

Wesfarmers lost 2.1 per cent after the conglomerate said it would spend between $645 million and $715 million to expand the Mount Holland lithium mine and concentrator with its partner, Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile. It will pay for the investment using existing cash and debt facilities.

The big four banks were mixed. CBA was up 0.7 per cent, Westpac and ANZ Bank both edged up 0.1 per cent, but National Australia Bank slipped 0.1 per cent.

On Wall Street overnight, the S\&P 500 climbed 0.9 per cent. The Dow Jones added 385 points, or 0.7 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite rose 1.3 per cent.

AI stocks once again were at the centre of the action, and they rose for a second straight day after tumbling the week before.

After rocketing higher because of the boom in investment in AI chips and data centres, they’ve come under pressure in recent weeks on worries that they shot too high. Concerns are also weighing that investment in AI may fall off if it doesn’t produce as much profit as hoped.

Micron Technology jumped 12.2 per cent and added to its 1.9 per cent gain from the day before, coming off its 13.3 per cent drop from last week. Nvidia added 2 per cent; they were the two strongest forces lifting the S\&P 500.

On Wall Street, several stronger-than-expected profit reports from big companies also helped the market higher. 3M climbed 7.3 per cent after topping analysts’ expectations for both profit and revenue in the latest quarter. It also raised its forecast for profit over the full year of 2026.

General Motors cruised 4.9 per cent higher after the automaker’s profit for the latest quarter beat analysts’ expectations and CEO Mary Barra said demand in North America remains strong.

Alphabet slid 1.5 per cent after Google released a trio of cheaper versions of its Gemini AI model, but shared no timing updates for the flagship Pro model that has already delayed its launch by several weeks.

with AP, Reuters, Bloomberg

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