US sharemarkets lifted to fresh record highs for a third consecutive trading session on trade hopes. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Tuesday that he believed that the US can reach a trade deal with Canada this week after an agreement with Mexico. The S&P500 index briefly rose above 2,900 points for the first time. Footwear retailer DSW shares rose by 20.2% after reporting strong quarterly earnings. Luxury retailer Tiffany shares rose 1.0% on stronger-than-expected forecast earnings. Sears shares jumped 12.6% as its Auto Center partnership withAmazon.com expanded. The Dow Jones index rose by 14 points or 0.1%. The S&P 500 index was flat and the Nasdaq lifted by 12points or 0.2%.

Global oil prices edged lower on Tuesday as investors took some profits after recent strong gains following the US-Mexico trade agreement. And workers at Total's North Sea oil platforms no longer plan strike action on September 3. Brent crude fell by US26cents or 0.3% to US$75.95 a barrel and the US Nymex price fell by US34 cents or 0.5% to US$68.53 a barrel.

Base metal prices rose on the London Metals Exchange (LME)on Tuesday. Aluminium (+1.8%) rose on reports that alumina shipments from WA have been delayed due to strikes at Alcoa and maintenance at South 32's Worsley operations. Copper (+0.7%) rose following the US-Mexico trade deal.

The gold futures price fell by US$1.60 an ounce or 0.1% to $1,214.40 an ounce. The spot gold price was trading near US$1,200 an ounce in late US trade. Iron ore was unchanged at US$65.85 a tonne according to Reuters.

Tuesday 28 August - close. Australian shares have ended higher on Tuesday, following on from a record close on Wall Street and hopes of reduced global trade tensions. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 ended the day 35.8 points, or 0.57 per cent, higher at 6,304.7 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index was 32.4 points, or 0.51 per cent, higher at 6,413.5 points.

Adriatic Metals PLC (ADT.ASX, 39cps, m.cap A$51m with 130.8m SOI, Cash GBP4.6m, Polymetallic Explorer / Developer

• Drilling confirms a further high-grade and thick intercept, extending mineralisation to the northwest at Rupice, with BR-8-18 returning:
  • 16m @ 1.6g/t Au, 136 g/t Ag, 1.1% Cu, 4.0% Pb, 6.5% Zn and 10m at 51% BaSO4 from 206m.
• BR-7-18 confirms mineralisation continuity 50m up-dip of BR-2-18returning:
  • 18m @ 2.6g/t Au, 201 g/t Ag, 0.5% Cu, 4.5% Pb, 9.2% Zn and 62% BaSO4 from 228m.
• Drilling continues on schedule with 4 rigs in operation
• CEO Geraint Harris commented, “Both BR-7-18 andBR-8-18 continue to demonstrate thick and high-grade mineralisation that confirms further continuity with our 2017 and 2018 drilling results and the ability to further expand Rupice. It is also exciting to see the previous mineralisation boundary expanded to the northwest, beyond the known drilling; which further demonstrates the tremendous potential of this deposit”
• A link to the full announcement can be found here
• Please contact your advisor on +61 8 6169 2668 should you wish to discuss further

Independence Group NL: (IGO.ASX, 451cps, m.cap A$2,680.1m with 590.3m SOI, Cash $139m, Diversified / Base Metals Producer)

• Independence Group NL released an impressive set of FY18 Financial Results this morning
• Revenue and Underlying EBITDA up 85% ($780.6m) and 125% ($338.6) respectively
• IGO completed first full year of commercial production at Nova and better than expected gold production at Tropicana driving record FY18 results
• Long transitioned into care and maintenance in June 2018 and delivered nickel production better than mid-point of guidance whilst Stockman and Jaguar divestments successfully completed
• Further consolidation of tenure on the Fraser Range and extensive exploration activities
• Net debt reduced to A$4m from A$16m at the start of FY18
• A final fully franked dividend of 2c/share declared for FY18 for total FY18 dividends of 3c/share

Ashanti is handling the Asian leg of IGO's global roadshow mid September. Please be in contact if you would like to arrange a meeting