Miners buoy Australian shares; CSL deepens losses on US pharma tariffs

Published on 09/26/2025 at 02:48 am EDT
(Updates to close)

• CSL drifts near April 2019 lows
• Mining stocks log best week in one year
• BHP, RIO rise 1.2% and 1.3%
• Healthcare sector slips to near two-year low

(Reuters) - Australian shares settled a few pips higher on Friday, supported by top miners benefiting from strong copper prices that offset losses in biotechnology firm CSL as traders weighed the impact of new U.S. pharmaceutical tariffs.
The S&P/ASX 200 benchmark index closed 0.2% higher at 8,787.70 points.
Shanghai copper extended its gains on Friday, hovering near the six-month high on persisting supply disruption concerns following Freeport's force majeure declaration.
That sent iron ore giants BHP and Rio Tinto 1.3% and 1.2% higher, respectively. BHP settled at an over three-week high, while Rio Tinto ended at its best level since February 21.
Both iron ore miners are gradually pivoting their strategy towards copper, a metal key to global decarbonisation and electrification efforts.
The mining sub-index ended 1% higher, and logged its best week in one year with a 6.7% gain.
Limiting gains on the benchmark, CSL Ltd tumbled 1.9%, as traders weighed the impact of new U.S. import tariffs on branded drugs on the biotechnology giant.
CSL's stock, once the priciest in Australia, is extending its broader downward trend that began in mid-August after it announced job cuts and a softer growth outlook for the ongoing financial year.
Since then, CSL shares have lost over 28% in value, or A$37.4 billion ($24.45 billion), and continue to hover around their April 2019 lows.
Shane Ponraj, a healthcare equity analyst at Morningstar, said CSL's decline today could be considered an extension of the broader sell-off going on since the August announcement, amplified by the newly announced tariff threats.
The healthcare sub-index fell 1.4% to settle at near two-year lows. That mirrors the broader sell-off in pharmaceutical companies in the Asia-Pacific region following Trump's tariffs.
Elsewhere, financials rose 0.5%, while gold stocks closed 1.2% higher to log their best week since early August.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.3% to 13,111.73.
($1 = 1.5298 Australian dollars)
 (Reporting by Sneha Kumar and Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng) 

Sumber : Reuters