ASX 200 materials shares lead the market sectors last week, lifting 3.04% primarily due to a surge in big mining stocks.
The major miners, led by BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), set new 52-week highs, as did the market's biggest pure-play copper share.
Several ASX mining ETFs also hit new 52-week highs, including the SPDR S&P/ASX 200 Resources ETF (ASX: OZR).
Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) lifted 0.24% to finish the week at 8,634.6 points.
The benchmark index is now 5.3% down on its October record of 9,115.2 points.
Strong commodity prices lifted ASX 200 mining shares last week.
Iron ore and copper prices rose while the gold price hovered not far off its record high set in October.
Let's review.
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ASX 200 mining shares rip amid higher commodity prices
The BHP share price rose 7.61% over the week to finish at a new 52-week high of $44.84 on Friday.
The Fortescue Ltd (ASX: FMG) share price ascended 3.27% to close at a 52-week high of $22.11.
Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO) set a new 52-week high at $140.58 on Thursday and finished 4.68% higher over the week at $138.47.
Pure-play ASX 200 copper share, Sandfire Resources Ltd (ASX: SFR) set an all-time record at $17.20 on Thursday.
Sandfire Resources shares rose 7.3% over the week to finish at $16.88 apiece on Friday.
Capstone Copper Corp (ASX: CSC) shares rose 9% to close out the week at $14.38.
Stronger iron ore and copper prices supported these ASX 200 mining shares last week.
Iron ore rose 2.9% to US$107.88 per tonne, which may not seem like a big bump, but it makes up the bulk of the 4.1% year-to-date (YTD) gain.
One of the tailwinds for the iron ore price is China's announcement of new supports for its troubled property sector.
According to Trading Economics, these include lower taxes on home purchases and additional mortgage subsidies.
Copper futures rose 4% last week to US$5.40 per pound on Friday. That's a YTD gain of 35.5%.
The strong copper price is a tailwind for BHP and Rio Tinto shares given both companies have greatly expanded their copper operations.
BHP is now the world's largest copper producer, and copper formed 45% of its total underlying EBITDA in FY25, up from 29% in FY24.
What about gold?
The gold price moved sideways last week and remains high at about US$4,200 per ounce.
That's not far off its historical peak of US$4,381.58 per ounce reached in October.
A Goldman Sachs poll found almost 70% of institutional investors expect the gold price to keep rising in 2026.
Last week, the market's largest ASX 200 gold share, Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST), fell 3.06% to $26.33.
The Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) share price lifted 1.01% to $12.
Newmont Corporation CDI (ASX: NEM) shares fell 0.9% to $138.20.
Gold and copper miner, Greatland Resources Ltd (ASX: GGP) streaked 11% higher to $8.38 per share.
ASX 200 market sector snapshot
Here's how the 11 market sectors stacked up last week, according to CommSec data.
Over the five trading days:
| S&P/ASX 200 market sector | Change last week |
| Materials (ASX: XMJ) | 3.04% |
| Energy (ASX: XEJ) | 2.41% |
| Financials (ASX: XFJ) | 0.36% |
| Utilities (ASX: XUJ) | 0.24% |
| A-REIT (ASX: XPJ) | (1.2%) |
| Consumer Staples (ASX: XSJ) | (1.43%) |
| Industrials (ASX: XNJ) | (1.6%) |
| Communication (ASX: XTJ) | (1.62%) |
| Consumer Discretionary (ASX: XDJ) | (1.68%) |
| Healthcare (ASX: XHJ) | (1.86%) |
| Information Technology (ASX: XIJ) | (1.94%) |
