The ASX 200 slipped 1% last week, with several major names trading ex-dividend, while sharp falls across Technology (-5.2%) and the influential miners (-4.6%) more than offset a return to the winners’ enclosure for Financials (+2%). The market remains in a holding pattern, which we view as encouraging considering the macro and geopolitical headwinds from rising long-term bond yields to renewed private credit concerns and continued uncertainty around the next twist in the US-Iran conflict.
With reporting season firmly in the rear-view mirror, the best-performing stocks were an eclectic bunch, while the losers’ enclosure had a distinct resources flavour.
Winners: PEXA Group (ASX: PXA) +11%, GrainCorp (ASX: GNC) +9%, Dalrymple Bay (DBI) +6.7%, Challenger (CGF) +6%, Austal (+6%), Telix Pharma. (+5%), Amp (ASX: AMP) +5%, Suncorp (ASX: SUN) +5%, and Cochlear (ASX: COH) +5%.
Losers: Pinnacle Invest. (ASX: PNI) -18%, Silex Systems (ASX: SLX) -16%, Lovisa (ASX: LOC) -12%, Minerals 260 (ASX: MI6) -9%, Capstone Copper (ASX: CSC) -8%, Greatland Resources (ASX: GGP) -8%, and BHP Group (ASX: BHP) -7%.
Weekly snapshot: Last week the ASX was fairly range-bound, but some selling crept into the high-flying miners as concerns increased around central banks lifting interest rates creating some concern around global growth:
- The ASX 200 started the week off quietly on the index level, but switching from the miners into the banks was evident.
- Rising bond yields and energy prices weighed heavily on the miners, sending the index down 1% with many of the big names falling 3-5%.
- Thursday saw a market bounce, but it was again the banks, and to a lesser extent gold names, that drove the move.
- The week signed off with a small drop by the local bourse ahead of the US Jobs Report, with gold names again firm.
With reporting season behind us, the coming week will see markets focus on hugely important US CPI and PPI inflation data, the ECB rate decision, and, of course, further developments in the US-Iran conflict, as usual.
Overseas markets finished the week mixed as stronger-than-expected US jobs data increased expectations for further Fed rate hikes, pushing bond prices lower (yields higher). In Europe, Germany’s DAX edged up +0.2%, while France’s CAC slipped -0.1%. In the US, the S&P 500 fell -0.4%, but the tech-heavy NASDAQ bucked the trend to gain +0.2%.
- The SPI Futures are calling the ASX200 to open flat on Monday following the mixed session on overseas bourses.
