ASX 200 +0.34% to 8,823 as copper lifts BHP and the gold miners run

ASX 200 close: 8,823.0 (+0.34%) Breadth: 115 advancers / 103 decliners across 234 large caps sampled Sentiment: mixed

The S&P/ASX 200 closed at 8,823.0 on 22 July 2026, up 29.7 points or 0.34%, after copper settled 2.97% higher overnight at US$6.56/lb and pulled the diversified miners with it: BHP.AU +2.52%, RIO.AU +2.53%, S32.AU +4.60%. Paladin Energy PDN.AU rose 6.66% to $9.13 on a June-quarter uranium production beat, and IperionX IPX.AU led the market at +8.67%. Healthcare went the other way after President Trump set a 100% duty on imported generic drugs from August 2028, with CSL.AU down 2.83% and Cochlear COH.AU down 4.92%.

What moved the index

The index added 34 basis points. Index weights used below are approximate, so read the basis-point splits as estimates rather than exact attribution.

• Copper and the diversified miners: BHP.AU +2.52% to $59.76, RIO.AU +2.53% to $161.98 and S32.AU +4.60% to $4.55 were worth roughly 30 bps between them. Copper sits within 2% of its all-time high and is up 4.2% week to date on tightening Chinese supply. Capstone Copper CSC.AU +3.72% and Firefly Metals FFM.AU +6.91% moved with it.
• Gold miners: 14 large-cap gold names averaged +4.96%, worth roughly 14 bps, led by Regis RRL.AU +6.61%, Westgold WGX.AU +6.13% and Genesis GMD.AU +5.90%. Spot gold added 1.4% to US$4,132/oz during Australian hours after bouncing 1.7% overnight, a second straight up day that only returns it to a two-week high.
• Healthcare: CSL.AU -2.83%, COH.AU -4.92%, Pro Medicus PME.AU -3.66% and Ramsay RHC.AU -1.84% cost roughly 13 bps. The US generic-drug duty starts at 100% in August 2028 and doubles to 200% a year later. Healthcare ran 23% between 3 June and 6 July and has shed 5.8% over the twelve sessions since.
• Technology, discretionary and property: Wesfarmers WES.AU -2.11%, REA Group REA.AU -2.65%, Xero XRO.AU -2.61% and Goodman GMG.AU -1.96% cost roughly 20 bps. Nasdaq futures fell 0.71% through Australian hours, unwinding Tuesday's semiconductor-led 1.29% gain on the cash index.

Those four net to about 11 bps. Energy adds roughly 5 bps on Brent's 3.1% overnight settle at US$91.63, and the banks about 5 bps on CBA.AU +0.70%, taking identified drivers to roughly 21 bps of the 34 bps move. The remaining 13 bps came from the wider market: 115 of the 234 large caps sampled closed higher against 103 lower.

Session highlights

• PDN.AU +6.66% to $9.13 after June-quarter uranium output beat estimates, the Langer Heinrich ramp-up completed and FY27 guidance landed ahead of expectations. Bannerman BMN.AU +4.92%, Silex SLX.AU +4.84% and NexGen NXG.AU +4.38% followed.
• LYC.AU -3.63% to $15.38 after Lynas missed June-quarter NdPr production estimates on ore quality at Mt Weld. Arafura ARU.AU fell 2.44% alongside it, while smaller peers climbed: ASM.AU +8.50%, BRE.AU +7.76%.
• 8,837.7 marked the session high mid-morning. The index handed back 14.7 points of that into the 16:00 close.
• ORG.AU -1.88% to $10.42 after Origin Energy said it is investigating a potential security incident involving unauthorised access to some customer data. It notified the Australian Cyber Security Centre, the AFP and the OAIC, and said credit card and bank details are not believed to be involved.
• HUB.AU +4.87% to $85.31, recovering Tuesday's 4.2% fall after a Q4 update in which net inflows came in below market expectations while platform funds under administration beat consensus.

Sector scorecard

These are equal-weighted averages of named baskets built from today's closes, not official GICS sector index returns.

• Best: gold miners +4.96% across 14 names
• Worst: technology and online -1.98% across 12 names
• Dispersion (best minus worst): 6.9 points
• Widest internal spread: uranium and critical minerals, 10 of 12 names higher, running from IPX.AU +8.67% to LYC.AU -3.63%, a 12.3 point range

Top movers

Ranked strictly by today's close. Where the reason reads as unannounced, WebSearch, Firecrawl and EODHD news all returned nothing dated today.

Notable announcements

• PEN.AU -26.03% to $0.27 after Peninsula Energy withdrew its CY26 production guidance, citing a slower than anticipated wellfield ramp-up.
• BPT.AU +0.57% to $0.875, holding a gain even though Beach Energy closed FY26 with June-quarter production and sales below expectations. Net gearing stands at 10.6%.
• WTC.AU -0.47% to $33.84 after WiseTech agreed to acquire FRDM.ai to accelerate its VerifyWise product.
• 3,000 auditors received an ASIC letter dated Wednesday covering internal complaints handling at KPMG, PwC, Deloitte and EY, following allegations that KPMG used confidential client data to win audit work.

Global markets at 17:30 AEST

Next 24h catalysts (AEST)

• Thu 09:00: ASX open. S&P futures sat at -0.28% and Nasdaq futures at -0.71% as at 17:30 AEST.
• Thu: June-quarter production reports continue after PDN.AU, LYC.AU, BPT.AU and ALK.AU reported this session.
• Thu: PL8.AU trades ex-dividend at $0.006.
• Fri: the US 10% global tariff imposed after February's Supreme Court decision expires. The Financial Times reports replacement Section 301 duties on dozens of countries, likely between 10% and 12.5%, could be announced this week.
• Tue 4 Aug: SpaceX reports maiden earnings, opening its first insider lock-up window from 6 August.

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