Aussie shares dip despite strong gains by mining sector
At midday on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 15.5 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 8,576.4, while the broader All Ordinaries was down 9.8 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 8,816.8.
With a few hours of trading left, the ASX200 was set to post a 0.3 per cent loss for the week, snapping its two-week winning streak.
The mining sector rose 1.8 per cent as iron ore prices hit multi-month highs on hopes of further supply-side reform measures in China's steel sector.
BHP was up 2.8 per cent, Rio Tinto had added 2.4 per cent and Fortescue had climbed 3.7 per cent.
Rare earth miners Lynas and Iluka Resources surged after the Pentagon announced it was taking a multi-billion-dollar stake in New York Stock Exchange-listed rare earth miner MP Materials.
It is part of a move by the US to try to reduce reliance on China for rare earth magnets, a critical component of weapons systems, electric vehicles and electronics.
Lynas surged 16.6 per cent to a three-year high of $9.665, while Iluka Resources had gained 19.5 per cent to a six-month high of $4.755.
Johns Lyng Group had soared 21.7 per cent to a seven-month high of $3.87 after the building services company agreed to be acquired by Sydney-based private equity firm Pacific Equity Partners for $4 a share, or $1.1 billion.
Goldminers were lower even as the yellow metal traded for $US3,342 an ounce, up $US16 from Thursday.
Northern Star had dipped 2.3 per cent and Evolution lost 2.1 per cent, while Ora Banda Mining had dropped 10.7 per cent to a seven-month low after the WA goldminer announced production results for 2024/25 that investors found disappointing.
Elsewhere on the bourse, three of the four big banks were lower.
Westpac was down 0.6 per cent and CBA and NAB had both dropped 0.5 per cent.
ANZ was the outlier, up 0.3 per cent.
In currency, the Australian dollar hit a 10-month high overnight of 65.95 US cents.
At midday, it was trading for 65.80 US cents, up from 65.55 US cents at midday on Wednesday.
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