The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has had a fairly bumpy day of trading so far this Monday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has recovered from a big sell-off this morning and is just staying above water, up 0.06%. But let's talk about what's going on with ASX uranium shares today.
ASX uranium shares are on fire this Monday, no other way to put it.
Take the Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE) share price. Boss shares are presently up a whopping 7.17% at $3.06 each after closing up shop at $2.86 last week.
Boss' fellow ASX uranium share Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) is faring similarly. Paladin stock has bounced 6.17% higher today and is up to $7.74 a share.
Deep Yellow Ltd (ASX: DYL) is in the same ballpark. The Deep Yellow share price has soared 6.75% higher at the time of writing to $1.22 a share.
Even uranium exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are lifting off this session. The BetaShares Global Uranium ETF (ASX: URNM) has risen 4.03% today and is up to $8.78 a unit.
So what on earth is going on with uranium stocks this Monday that has seen such marked outperformance in this corner of the markets?
Why are ASX uranium shares exploding higher on Monday?
Well, it's hard to know for sure. There haven't been many significant stock market announcements today that might be directly influencing these ASX uranium shares to push higher.
However, there has been some international news on the uranium markets that we can point to as a potential catalyst here.
According to Reuters, Russia has just imposed temporary restrictions on the export of uranium to the United States. Russia, the world's largest supplier of enriched uranium, is also reportedly responsible for "around 35%" of imported nuclear fuel in the United States.
The article posits that this decision is largely symbolic and that "Russian imports into the U.S. would continue with limited interruption through 2027 due to the previous waivers granted by the U.S. Department of Energy, with Russia expected to continue exports".
However, this didn't stop uranium prices from jumping significantly on this news. According to Business Insider, uranium has risen from US$76.75 per pound a week ago to the US$82.60 per pound price we see today. That includes a 4.56% jump since only last Friday.
As such, we can probably conclude that this news, together with the jump in uranium prices, is responsible for the stellar day that ASX uranium shares are enjoying on our share market this Monday.
Let's see if this momentum continues into the trading week.