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The ASX 200 again managed to reverse early losses on Tuesday to edge higher, with the local index continuing to display resilience into dips. The materials and tech sectors returned to the winners’ enclosure, with the former adding 29-points on a day when the index closed up only 2-points. The banks were again the main drag on the market with the “Big Four” retreating almost 1%, offsetting much of the good work of BHP (+1.3%), South32 (+6.6%), and the gold stocks, many of whom closed more than +4% higher. Conversely, the lithium names which we discussed yesterday continued to decline: Liontown (-5.1%), Mineral Resources (-3.5%), and PLS Group (-1.7%).
The market continues to shrug off the US-Iran conflict, with strikes now entering their 10th day. The local market adopted a clear “risk on” tone through yesterday’s trade just as the AFR ran a story around the ASX mining sector going from “dux to dunce” in a month. Industrial metals like influential copper have endured a classic 1-2 combination of increasing geopolitical tensions and a sharp correction in the “AI Trade”, but their retreat has been far more muted than the bears would like:
- Copper: Copper Futures on the LME may have been buffeted by recent events, but LME Copper is only ~6% below its all-time high, while Comex copper is less than 4% below its same milestone.
We’ve trotted out a few times that July has been the strongest month of the year for ASX over the last 10 and 20 years. So far, in 2026, the ASX200 has eked out a +0.2% advance this month; it’s got only 8-trading days to live up to its reputation and advance at least another 2%.
Overseas indices were strong overnight as a rebound in the chipmakers gathered momentum. In Europe, the UK closed +0.6% higher, trumped by the German DAX, which ended the session up +0.7%. In the US, the tech-based NASDAQ surged +1.9%, closely followed by the small-cap Russell 2000 Index, which ended this morning up +1.5%.
- The SPI futures are calling the ASX200 to open up +0.2%, helped by a $1.30 advance by BHP Group (BHP) in US trade. The move by the SPI seems underdone.
MM remains bullish towards the ASX200 around 8800
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