Gold and tech stocks surge to lift ASX despite widespread market falls

A record gold price and a rebound in Australian technology stocks led the local market to a modest gain on Friday.

The benchmark ASX 200 closed up 11.40 points or 0.13 per cent to 8,860.10, while the broader All Ordinaries closed up 17.40 points or 0.19 per cent to 9,189.90.

The local market followed a recovery on Wall Street overnight after US President Donald Trump walked away from threats of military invention and tariffs over Greenland, as well as an upward revision of third quarter GDP to 4.4 per cent.

Australia’s dollar continued to rally against the greenback to a new 15-month high of 68.48 US cents.

On an overall weak day of trading surging information technology stocks and a bumper day of trading for the major miners offset falls from consumer staples and the big four banks.

Just three of the 11 sectors finished in the green.

Leading the gains in technology was Life360, which surged 27.37 per cent to $33.79.

Xero shares leapt 3.54 per cent to $101.22 and TechnologyOne shares closed 2.76 per cent higher at $27.18.

Mining stocks also buoyed the ASX 200 mainly led by the gold producers. Gold prices continued their run higher, temporarily reaching $US4964.99 ($7247) an ounce.

Northern Star Resources leapt 5.42 per cent to $27.60, Evolution Mining rallied 5.32 per cent to $14.86 and Regis Resources climbed 10.16 per cent to $8.35.

AMP chief economist and head of investment strategy Shane Oliver said the run up in gold prices are on the back of US Federal Reserve Independence and geopolitical tensions.

“While they are getting overbought and vulnerable to a correction the broad trend in both is likely to remain up as investors demand a hedge against geopolitical risks, worries that Trump will weaken the Fed risking higher inflation and associated downward pressure on the $US,” Mr Oliver wrote.

Offsetting the gains were a fall in the big fall banks.

CBA shares slumped 0.75 per cent to $149.48, Westpac dropped 0.44 per cent to $38.74, NAB slipped 0.19 per cent to $42.35 and ANZ lost 0.52 per cent to $36.21.

Shares in Life360 was the strongest performing share on Friday as the family safety app surged 27.37 per cent to $33.79 after it reported the full year 2025 revenue was up 32 per cent compared with last year at between $US486 to $US489m ($714m).

Fast food Mexican retailer Guzman y Gomez shares jumped 3.83 per cent to $23.30, after informing the market of a multi-year exclusive delivery partnership with Uber Eats in Australia, starting on February 22.

Capstone Copper shares fell 3.36 per cent to $14.95 after announcing an update on the Mantoverde operation, where some workers are on strike.

Counter drone technology company DroneShield was the biggest laggard as it slumped 5.50 per cent to $4.47 although the defence contractor did not make an announcement.