Daily Market Update: 17 September 2025

Record US highs, resources, lift local market

The Australian sharemarket rose on Tuesday, powered by a rally in resources stocks, and riding on the coat-tails of record highs on Wall Street. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) added 24.7 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 8,877.7, with eight out of the 11 sectors rising. The broader All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) was up 30.3 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 9,151.

Resources was the main game in town, as a lift in the Singapore iron ore price helped the big miners, and gold hit another record high at US$3,689 an ounce ahead of the Federal Reserve’s imminent rates decision. BHP Group Limited (ASX: BHP) rose 19 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to $40.77, Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) added $2.18, or 1.9 per cent, to $117.49 and Fortescue Ltd (ASX: FMG) lifted 21 cents, or 1.1 per cent, to $19.12.

Gold was also in the spotlight, with Bellevue Gold Limited (ASX: BGL) surging 6 cents, or 6.3 per cent, to $1.01; Emerald Resources NL (ASX: EMR) adding 9 cents, or 2.2 per cent, to $4.23; Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) advancing 11 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to $20.91; Newmont Corporation (NYSE: NEM) strengthening $1.10, or 0.9 per cent, to $118.74; and Capricorn Metals Ltd (ASX: CMM) gaining 19 cents, or 1.6 per cent, to $11.98. But Ora Banda Mining Limited (ASX: OBM) bucked the trend, receding 5.5 cents, or 5.3 per cent, to 98.5 cents. In coal, New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC) jumped 22 cents, or 5.1 per cent, to $4.58 after posting a 21 per cent lift in coal sales for FY25, despite a 7.7 per cent fall in net profit to $439.4 million. Whitehaven Coal Limited (ASX: WHC) gained 12 cents, or 2 per cent, to $6.34, and Stanmore Resources Limited (ASX: SMR) put on 5 cents, or 2.8 per cent, to $1.865. In uranium, Deep Yellow Limited (ASX: DYL) rallied 17.5 cents, or 9.2 per cent, to $2.08 – it is up 14.3 per cent in the last two days – and Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE) spiked 13 cents, or 7.1 per cent, to $1.97: its two-day gain is 16.5 per cent.

Avita Medical sizzles, Super Retail slumps

On the industrial screens, biotech heavyweight CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) retreated $2.57, or 1.3 per cent, to $201.91, on news that it will invest up to $760 million in Dutch biotech VarmX; while also in biotech, Avita Medical Inc (ASX: AVH), which makes spray-on skin for burns victims from their own skin, surged 42 cents, or 28.5 per cent, to $1.895 after winning approval to market its next-generation wound care device RECELL GO in Europe, as well as the US.

Super Retail Group Limited (ASX: SUL) slumped 74 cents, or 4.3 per cent, to $16.52 following the sacking of group managing director and chief executive Anthony Heraghty because of an undisclosed office romance with the company’s former chief HR officer. Super Retail – the owner of Rebel Sport, BCF, Supercheap Auto and Macpac – has surrendered 7 per cent since Friday’s close.

There was a mixed performance across the major banks, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) slipping 57 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $168.33; and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ASX: ANZ) easing 21 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to $32.78; but National Australia Bank Limited (ASX: NAB) gained 30 cents, or 0.7 per cent, to $44.09; and Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX: WBC) also put on 30 cents, in its case up 0.8 per cent, to $39.03.

Rates decision nerves stops record Wall Street run

In the US, the S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPX) eased from record highs on Tuesday as traders await Wednesday’s big Fed rate decision. The broad benchmark gave up 8.52 points, or 0.1 per cent, to close at 6,606.76, after hitting a fresh record, at 6,626.99 earlier in the session. The Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: IXIC) also retreated from a record high, losing 14.79 points on the session, or 0.1 per cent, to 22,333.96, after touching the level of 22,397.50 for the first time. The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DJI) dropped 125.55 points, or 0.3 per cent, to close at 45,757.90.

Investors and traders alike are preparing for a much-anticipated monetary policy decision and an even more important policy outlook from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday. The Fed is almost universally expected to lower interest rates on Wednesday (tonight Australian time), a move that could boost the US economy amid signs that the jobs market is slowing even as inflation stays stubbornly above the central bank’s 2 per cent target.

Markets were also digesting a proposal from President Trump to scrap quarterly reporting for listed companies, moving to semi-annual company reports, to allow CEOs to make better long-term decisions.