The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) finished Tuesday's trading session 0.46% lower, closing back under 7,500 points.
For most of the day, the ASX 200 was well in the green. But when the decision of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to hike the official cash rate by 0.25% came out this afternoon, markets went into a tailspin.
But that was certainly not the case with ASX 200 coal shares.
This corner of the share market was on fire today. Take the Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) share price. Whitehaven shares closed up a pleasing 1.89% at $8.62 a share.
New Hope Corporation Ltd's (ASX: NHC) share price did even better. It ended the day 3.7% higher at $6.16 a share. Yancoal Australia Ltd (ASX: YAL) also enjoyed a nice boost, recording a happy rise of 3.51% to $6.19 a share:
ASX 200 coal shares propped up the entire energy sector today – one of only two ASX sectors to finish in the green.
Some oil shares also did quite well, including Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) which gained 2.92%. But that wasn't the case for the largest oil producer in the ASX 200. Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) only managed to close 0.31% ahead after a largely anaemic day.
Thus, it was coal shares that were really behind the energy sector's dominance of the markets this Tuesday.
So what was going on with ASX 200 coal miners? Why did these shares defy the gloom of the broader market?
Why are coal shares smashing the ASX 200 today?
Well, it's probably down to a relatively simple reason: coal prices themselves.
As my Fool colleague covered this afternoon, coal prices rose strongly overnight, with Coal Nymex futures up a solid 5.3% to US$157.00 a tonne.
Such a meaningful jump in the primary commodity of Whitehaven, New Hope, and Yancoal was always going to excite investors.
As such, it was no real surprise to see this sector shining out amid the sea of red that the ASX 200 gave us this afternoon.
