· Metals: Copper -1.4% to $4.48lb, iron ore +0.40% to...

· Metals: Copper -1.4% to $4.48lb, iron ore +0.40% to US$201.45/t

· Energy: Brent crude +0.4% to US$74.8/bbl, WTI +1.0% to US$72.4/bbl

· Keyovernight stock moves: BHP LND +0.3%, Rio Tinto LND +1.4%, S32 (LDN) -2.8%, AAL +1.7%, GLEN +1.0%, Vale +3.5%, AA -0.1%, Shell 0.4%, BP +0.1%, XOM +0.7%, Chevron +0.6%, COP +0.7%

· GlobalIndices: S&P 500 -0.02%, DOW -0.36% & FTSE +0.29%

Rio Tinto reported record half-year profits that toppedits total for all of 2020 as the price of its key commodity, iron ore, hit anall-time high on the back of booming demand from China. The strong earnings growth enabled the Anglo-Australian company to reward shareholders with the biggest half-year payout in its history: dividends of $9.1bn, or $5.61 a share. The profits and dividend highlight the huge amounts of cash being generated by the mining industry, which has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of China’s rapid economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. (Financial Times)

Rio Tinto will pay out $12.4bn in half-year dividendsafter the iron price boosted its profits into record territory and the mininggiant found itself in a net cash position for the first time in more than adecade. Rio declared a $US5.61 ($7.63) a share interim dividend on Wednesday as the company jumped to a $US12.2bn underlying profit for the first half of the year, up more than 150 per cent from the first half of 2020. The extraordinary result comes on the back of strong commodity prices as Chinese demand for raw materials surged in the half. But Rio boss Jakob Stausholm warned on Wednesday that appetite could slow through the remainder of the year, even though the long term outlook still looked strong. (The Australian)

Former Rio Tinto boss Sam Walsh has joined the board of apowerful Aboriginal corporation with a big say in the future of iron oreoperations in Western Australia. The Banjima Native Title Aboriginal Corporation has welcomed Mr Walsh as an independent director amid an investigation into whether BHP’s mining activities damaged a culturally significant cave on the Banjima’s traditional lands. (AFR)

Andrew Forrest is weighing his options after BHP gazumpedhis takeover bid for a Canadian nickel explorer, but could opt to remain on theregister as a big shareholder. (AFR)