Ashland Inc (ASH US)

21/03/2024

Subscribe to Market Matters Blog

Latest Reports

Weekend report 16/05/2026

Weekend Q&A: The Budget’s behind us, now back to Iran and Inflation

The ASX200 fell 1.3% last week, with market sentiment softened by Tuesday’s Budget and disappointing trading updates from ASX heavyweights CBA and CSL - as the saying goes, the trend’s your friend, with the previous market darling CSL, now down -43%, in 2026. As we all know, the budget played a dominant role last week, with the influential “Big Four Banks” retreating by an average of close to 6% on fears around Australia's pivotal housing market. It’s a good job the big miners enjoyed a great week, despite surrendering some of their gains on Friday. BHP Group (ASX: BHP) and RIO Tinto (ASX: RIO) posted fresh all-time highs, both advancing +4% by Friday's close.

Afternoon report 15/05/2026

The Match Out: ASX slips as miners cool, Tech rebounds and banks find some support

The ASX finished the week on a softer note, with the index dragged lower by a sharp reversal in the miners following a strong run in commodity-linked names. Materials had been the market’s engine room recently, helped by record highs in copper and gold, but profit-taking arrived today as copper eased on signs higher prices are starting to bite into Chinese demand, while gold also softened as traders reassessed the outlook for US rates following hotter inflation data during the week.