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The ASX 200 struggled to hold onto a positive start on Friday, giving back an early ~0.6% gain to trade slightly lower into the afternoon. The reversal was largely a resources story, with the heavyweight names dragging on the index, while Energy also weighed despite Brent remaining elevated. There were some bright spots – tech stocks enjoyed some early relief on the back of a stronger Nasdaq and US software names overnight as dovish comments from Fed Governor Christopher Waller lowering US rate-hike expectations helped Wall Street rally. There was very limited action on the stock-front, which is usually the case following reporting season. The flat close caps a softer week for the market, with the ASX 200 down around 1%, led by declines of roughly 5% in Materials and 5.5% in Tech.
- ASX 200: -14.19pts (-0.16%) to 9,005.90
- AUD/USD: 0.7209, flat
- Best sectors: IT +1.00%, Communications +0.98%, Consumer Disc. +0.52%
- Worst sectors: Energy -1.22%, Materials -0.80%, Utilities -0.80%
- Energy struggled despite oil remaining elevated. Ampol (ASX: ALD) -6.01% to $40.65 and Viva Energy (ASX: VEA) -3.65% to $2.90 were the major drags, although both were trading ex-dividend rather than reacting to a deterioration in the oil backdrop. ANZ lifted its short-term Brent forecast to US$95/bbl, arguing tight inventories and constrained Middle East supply should keep prices elevated.
- Technology enjoyed some early relief after a rough week, following a strong lead from the Nasdaq and US software names. The sector had fallen 6.1% over the previous four sessions, with the early rebound led by names including Megaport (ASX: MP1) +4.11% to $16.99, Life360 (ASX: 360) +4.11% to $20.75 and WiseTech Global (ASX: WTC) +2.53% to $37.69. Despite the bounce, Technology remains one of the week’s biggest laggards. WiseTech Global held in the Active Growth Portfolio.
- Banks opened well but lost most of their momentum as the session progressed. CBA (ASX: CBA) -0.10% to $160.42, ANZ (ASX: ANZ) -0.16% to $37.95 and NAB (ASX: NAB) -0.05% to $39.25 were broadly flat by early afternoon while Westpac (ASX: WBC) +0.14% to $34.96 held a small gain. ANZ held in the Active Growth and Income Portfolios.
- Gold stocks were a bright spot for a second session. Gold has rallied 3.3% over two sessions after falling 7% across the prior five, bringing buyers back into names including Evolution Mining (ASX: EVN) +0.67% to $15.11, Northern Star (ASX: NST) flat at $23.17 and Newmont (ASX: NEM) +1.93% to $178.31. Evolution Mining held in the Active Growth Portfolio.
- BHP (ASX: BHP) -2.40% to $62.25 was among the session’s bigger heavyweight drags. Held in the Active Growth and Income Portfolios.
- Pinnacle Investment Management (ASX: PNI) -0.63% to $14.27 remained under pressure after KPMG delayed signing off on the annual accounts of three Metrics Credit Partners funds. The stock was down around 19% for the week. Held in the Emerging Companies Portfolio.
- Stanmore Resources (ASX: SMR) +3.06% to $3.03 agreed to acquire the Moranbah South coal tenements from Exxaro for US$105m, adding a sizeable premium hard coking coal resource next to its existing Bowen Basin operations.
- Core Lithium (ASX: CXO) -1.45 % to 34c agreed to sell the final ~25kt of lithium DSO fines from Finniss to Glencore, taking total 2026 revenue from its stockpile monetisation strategy to around $38.5m. Its first spodumene concentrate shipment remains targeted for the December quarter as Finniss ramps back up.
- Peter Warren Automotive (ASX: PWR) +3.23% to 80c received ACCC approval for its Wakeling Automotive acquisition, subject to divesting eight dealership sites in Sydney’s Macarthur region. The roughly $28m transaction is expected to be immediately EPS accretive after funding costs.
- Brent crude: around US$95.40/bbl / -1.5%
- Iron Ore: US$97.80 / -0.4%
- S&P 500 E-mini futures: +6.75pts / +0.09%
- Dow E-mini futures: -1.00pt / flat
- FTSE futures: +3.00pts / +0.03%
