Indices: Australian ASX 200
The ASX200 struggled to make any meaningful headway on Wednesday, even after the Dow closed up over 500 points and we received a particularly market-friendly inflation print.
The ASX200 surged almost 1% on Tuesday, taking the index back within 1% of its all-time high. Optimism that the worst of the Middle East conflict is already behind us drove the market higher on broad-based buying, which came with a definite “risk on” twist.
The ASX200 was trading down almost 1% at midday on Monday before buyers returned, trimming over half of the morning’s losses.
The ASX 200 slipped another 0.1% on Thursday, with the song remaining the same on the stock & sector level. CBA scaled new highs, trading through $183, while weakness in the large-cap iron ore miners was enough to ensure the index closed mildly lower.
Wednesday saw the ASX200 close down 0.1% after rotating in another tight 0.4% range as the market remains in its “Middle East Conflict” holding pattern. The losers slightly beat the winners, with only two stocks moving by over 5%, illustrating the lacklustre nature of the day.
The ASX200 slipped 0.1% on Tuesday as uncertainty around the Middle East increased following some confusing and contradictory comments from President Trump et al, leading to a ~0.6% slide by the US S&P 500 futures, surrendering most of Monday’s advance in the process.
The ASX200 surprised many on Monday, managing to eke out a small gain even after the Dow tumbled over 760 points on Friday night, although it helped that US futures bounced ~0.5% during our trading session.
The ASX200 advanced +0.1% last week, but after five consecutive weekly gains, it appears likely to be harder to add to the move this week, with plenty of good news built into markets, plus the uncertainty around the Middle East weighing on sentiment.
The A200 is our preferred proxy for exposure to Australian equities, and a number of dual listed NZ names. This large ETF is very cost-effective, with an annual cost of 0.04%, while it has tracked its benchmark, the Solactive Australia 200 Index, within 0.2% over the last 1, 3, and 5 years.
