- Markets @ Midday: Listen here at lunchtime or find all Market Matters Podcasts on Spotify.
The ASX looked set for a strong day early, but only finished marginally higher. We probably sound like a broken record at times – the ASX will struggle to push meaningfully higher without the banks leading, but today was the perfect example. The index briefly pushed above the 9,000 level intraday, though selling in financials capped the advance.
Sentiment was supported by reports that Washington and Tehran are working toward another round of peace talks in the coming days, causing oil prices to pull back to levels not seen since mid-March, weighing on the local energy sector but spurring on solid days for technology, gold and copper stocks in particular. After weeks of sharp, headline-driven swings, today felt more like a relative pause in the news flow, with markets consolidating recent gains rather than pushing aggressively higher.
- ASX 200: 8,978.70 / +7.88pts / +0.09%
- AUD/USD: 0.7140 / flat / +0.20%
- Best sectors: IT +2.41%, Healthcare +0.87%, REITs +0.77%
- Worst sectors: Consumer Staples −0.66%, Utilities −1.56%, Energy −1.94%
- Technology stocks tracked gains in the Nasdaq overnight — WiseTech Global (ASX: WTC) +3.63%, Xero (ASX: XRO) +2.62% and TechnologyOne (ASX: TNE) +2.86% all had solid sessions.
- Gold miners outperformed, supported by bullion holding steady – Northern Star (ASX: NST) +3.00% and Genesis Minerals (ASX: GMD) +4.99% were strong.
- Evolution Mining (ASX: EVN) +9.55% was the best of the gold names and topped the ASX200, surging after reporting weaker Q3 production but strong quarterly cash generation and shifting into a net cash position.
- Financials weighed on the index after Westpac (ASX: WBC) −1.90% raised credit provisions for business lending yesterday in relation to the Middle East conflict, with Commonwealth Bank (ASX: CBA) −0.18%, ANZ (ASX: ANZ) −0.62% and NAB (ASX:NAB) -0.38% all finishing lower.
- Energy stocks were weaker tracking the pullback in crude prices, with Woodside Energy (ASX: WDS) −2.36%, Santos (ASX: STO) −2.89% and Viva Energy (ASX: VEA) −4.53% all closing lower.
- Virgin Australia (ASX: VGN) +7.23% rallied after reaffirming its full-year earnings guidance despite higher fuel costs, supported by strong hedging with 92% Brent and 71% refining margin coverage. The airline also plans to lift fares and trim domestic capacity by ~1% in the fourth quarter.
- Nufarm (ASX: NUF) +11.26% jumped after forecasting first-half underlying EBITDA growth of around 17%, alongside plans to deliver a further $50m cost-cutting program as part of a broader strategy reset.
- Boss Energy (ASX: BOE) −9.28% dropped after downgrading FY26 production guidance at its Honeymoon uranium project in South Australia following weather-related disruptions and infrastructure delays.
- Mesoblast (ASX: MSB) +7.96% moved higher after securing an exclusive global licence to a patented chimeric antigen receptor platform, aimed at enhancing the targeting and potency of its cell therapies.
- Yancoal Australia (ASX: YAL) −2.35% slipped after confirming it had won the auction for the Kestrel coking coal mine, agreeing to acquire 80% of the asset for US$1.8bn, a deal the market didn’t like with the broader Uranium sector stronger on the day.
- Oil: Trading around $US90.55/barrel down −0.80%
- Gold: down $25.82/oz during our time zone, trading $US4,815/oz around our close.
- Iron Ore: Traded up +0.7% to $104.20/mt.
- Asian Markets: China +0.05%, Hong Kong +0.41% and the Nikkei +0.38%.
- Global Futures: S&P 500 E-Mini +0.02%, Dow E-Mini +0.03%, FTSE +0.07%
- US Earnings Tonight: ASML Holding (ASML US), Bank of America (BAC US) and Morgan Stanley (MS US).
