Overview
- President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed a critical minerals agreement in Washington that targets supply chains for defence and advanced technologies.
- Australian mining and materials stocks jumped after the announcement, with the S&P/ASX 200 touching a fresh intraday high around 9,115 points.
- Reported deal terms differ across outlets, with some citing a $13.5 billion framework and others describing roughly US$1 billion in near‑term investment and proposed price‑floor support.
- Arafura Rare Earths said the U.S. Export‑Import Bank will consider up to $460 million for its Nolans project, and its shares surged at the open.
- Alcoa reported Australian and U.S. government backing for a proposed gallium plant in Western Australia, and broader critical minerals names including lithium and rare‑earth stocks rallied, while an overnight AWS outage was largely resolved.