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Defensive rotation dominated Friday’s session as traders continued to shed miners and banks in favour of healthcare and consumer staples, with iron ore’s slide to a three-month low and lingering global uncertainty around the lingering Iranian situation hurting sentiment. The ASX 200 finished the week down –1.22%, capping a broadly risk-off five days.
- ASX 200: 8,625.10 / −61.03pts / −0.70%
- ASX All Ords: 8,855.90 / −60.98pts / −0.68%
- AUD/USD: 0.7120 / −0.20%
- Best sectors: Healthcare +3.54%, Consumer Staples +1.13%, Utilities +0.44%
- Worst sectors: Financials −0.89%, Energy −1.11%, Materials −2.31%
- Banks continued their soft run, with all four majors lower — Commonwealth Bank (ASX: CBA) −1.73% to $160.90, Westpac (ASX: WBC) −1.22% to $34.81, ANZ (ASX: ANZ) −1.04% to $34.12 and National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB) −1.13% to $36.59.
- Healthcare was the rare standout with CSL (ASX: CSL) +5.75% to $97.91 shaping up for its biggest session since February 2022, following a punishing ~25% decline through May.
- ResMed (ASX: RMD) +4.30% to $27.64 added as part of the broader rotation into healthcare defensives.
- Consumer staples outperformed, with Woolworths (ASX: WOW) +1.22% to $35.69 and Coles (ASX: COL) +1.88% to $22.21 as investors sought inflation-resistant earnings + Woolworths chairman Scott Perkins bought $140,542 worth of shares on-market.
- Materials were the session’s biggest drag as iron ore hit a three-month low of US$100.85/t, heading for a fourth consecutive weekly decline on rising supply and soft seasonal steel demand – BHP (ASX: BHP) −2.48% to $61.24, Fortescue (ASX: FMG) −2.33% to $20.53, Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) −1.86% to $184.58, Mineral Resources (ASX: MIN) −5.09% to $67.57 and South32 (ASX: S32) −2.53% to $4.63 all lower.
- Megaport (ASX: MP1) +15.19% to $18.48 surged after resuming trade following a $518m equity raise to invest in Nvidia chips for an AI push, with Citi lifting its target price by 41%.
- Ainsworth Game Technology (ASX: AGI) +9.9% rallied after chairman Danny Gladstone and company secretary Mark Ludski resigned following reports of historical personal payments.
- Treasury Wine Estates (ASX: TWE) +0.64% to $4.69 extended gains after an investor day flagged a portfolio rationalisation from ~76 brands to fewer than 30 and FY26 EBITS guidance of $480m–$490m, modestly ahead of consensus.
- NIB Holdings (ASX: NHF) +2.49% to $6.59 rose after selling its remaining Australian and New Zealand travel insurance businesses to Allianz for $50m.
- Resolute Mining (ASX: RSG) −5.02% to $1.14 dropped after flagging June-quarter production at its Syama mine in Mali would fall to ~30,000oz, well below prior guidance of 40,000–45,000oz due to security-related supply chain disruptions.
- Perpetual (ASX: PPT) +1.42% to $15.73 edged up after agreeing to acquire a 70% stake in loan servicing technology provider Interfi Systems.
- Oil (WTI): ~US$93.10/bbl / +0.06%
- Gold: ~US$4,439/oz / -0.8%
- Iron Ore: ~US$100.95/mt -0.85%
- Asian Markets: China flat, Hong Kong –1%, Nikkei -1.5%
- Global Futures: FTSE Futures: −0.43% / S&P 500 E-Mini: −0.34% / Dow E-Mini: +0.07%
