What Matters Today: How should investors tread through today’s market minefield?

The ASX200 plunged almost 300 points on Monday as global equity markets continued to panic that a recession was imminent for the US and the rest of the world would follow suit. Nobody felt the pain more than Japan following the BOJ’s rate hike last week; the Nikkei was down a staggering 12.4%, its worst day since “Black Monday” in 1987, wiping out all of this year’s gains in one fell swoop. We believe the unwinding of the “Carry Trade” has been the catalyst that has ignited the current volatility – more on this later. Market sentiment has turned on a sixpence as reduced liquidity collided with the perceived increased risk of an economic slowdown; cash has become the asset class of choice for many investors, i.e. if in doubt, get out! Everything from stocks, gold and Bitcoin, has sold as “risk off” ruled dominated over recent days.

scroll

OPINION
ACTION

Latest Reports

Afternoon report 12/06/2025 17:09

The Match Out: ASX fails to launch, awaits U.S-China trade deal confirmation

Despite a U.S-China trade deal now all but done, global markets overnight and the local index today are apprehensive to move higher - the ASX tried its best to break out but ran out of steam without the specifics of the deal and both sides yet to officially sign off.

Morning report 12/06/2025 16:31

What Matters Today: Can the Supermarkets emulate the Big Four Banks?

Wednesday saw the ASX 200 post a fresh all-time high at 8639 before reversing most of the early morning gains to close back below the psychological 8600 barrier.

Afternoon report 11/06/2025 17:36

The Match Out: ASX all-time highs short-lived as investors sell the fact on trade talk resolution

Today marked another intra-day record for the ASX 200, though this time it couldn’t hold with the market closing -47pts off the morning high. It had a feeling of buy the rumour sell the fact as Chinese and U.S trade officials walked away from two days of negotiations having agreed on a preliminary plan to ease trade tensions, emphasising resolving issues around rare earths minerals and magnets shipping, with the U.S expecting to lift export restrictions in a ‘balanced way’.

Morning report 12/06/2025 17:33

Portfolio Positioning: The unloved Bull Market confounds the numerous bears

The ASX200 posted a record close on Tuesday as broad-based buying took the index up 0.8%, with the heavyweight financials leading the market higher; the “Big Four” gained an average of 1.2%. The market adopted a clear “risk on” theme as it approached all-time highs, while abandoning some of the year's best-performing defensives, as underweight fund managers appeared increasingly exposed to the rising market.

Afternoon report 10/06/2025 17:49

The Match Out: Positive trade talks drive ASX to new all-time high close

The ASX 200 surged to a record high, driven by strong gains in energy and banking stocks amid optimism from ongoing US-China trade talks.

Morning report 12/06/2025 17:33

Macro Monday: Don’t fight the tape while the Goldilocks scenario is in play

Last week saw the US S&P 500 push to within 2.5% of its all-time high, enjoying the biggest jump since late May on Friday after a stronger-than-expected jobs report eased fears about a slowdown in the economy.

Weekend report 07/06/2025 09:41

Weekend Q&A: Enjoy the long weekend and bull market!

Even after slipping 0.3% on Friday, the ASX200 advanced 1.0% for the week, closing just 100 points/1.2% below February's all-time high. Overall, it was a relatively quiet week as traders eyed the long weekend as an excuse to pull up stumps early, compounded by the uncertainty of Friday night's May Payrolls numbers (jobs data) - in hindsight, there was nothing to worry about there! Although it felt quiet, it was the market's largest one-week gain since mid-May, with the ASX200 now advancing for four consecutive weeks and set to start the fifth positively. As we approach the EOFY, it's hard to imagine following all of the Trump concerns that the ASX200 is up +9.6% for the FY, yet another example of how equities deliver over time:

Afternoon report 06/06/2025 17:49

The Match Out: ASX drifts lower into long weekend ahead of U.S labour data

A softer session played out on the ASX today opening ~10pts up though never looked like moving higher with sellers chipping away as the index drifted down steadily through the day, closing at its lows ahead of key employment data in the U.S tonight.

Morning report 06/06/2025 10:39

What Matters Today: ETF Friday focuses on Yield as the RBA is forecast to cut again in July

The ASX 200 closed marginally lower on Thursday, surrendering early gains in a fairly lacklustre session, which at one stage was only ~0.6% from its February all-time high. The healthcare sector was the weakest on the day, with heavyweight CSL contributing the most to the index decline, decreasing 1.3%. There was some rare reversion on the stock/sector level, with gold names struggling while lithium names popped higher, not the normal EOFY tax loss selling shenanigans you would expect as we commence June:

Afternoon report 05/06/2025 16:39

The Match Out: Lithium stocks rally in an otherwise quiet session

A quiet day at the index level with the market closing flat, early strength was sold into, however, there was some reasonable moves in some stocks particularly in the resources space headlined by Lithium.