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The ASX200 surged +0.7% on Tuesday following broad-based gains, which saw 70% of the mainboard close higher. The index posted a fresh record closing high for the second time in a fortnight, ignoring plenty of negative news along the way. Ironically, the only sector which slipped on the day was the materials even after China reported better-than-expected quarterly economic growth, although we wouldn’t be surprised to see this translate to some buying in the miners into August.
A new all-time closing high for the ASX today, with the index pushing comfortably above 8600 driven by broad based buying with 75% of the main board closing higher – only one sector failed the make gains.
The ASX200 closed down 0.1% on Monday, which was another solid performance considering overseas indices were weak on Friday night, and the S&P 500 futures fell further during our day session after the Trade War gathered momentum over the weekend. In typical bullish fashion, the index opened around its daily low, grinding higher as BHP and the materials sector offset losses in the financials; CBA and Westpac combined to take over 6 points off the index, which was almost perfectly offset by a +0.9% gain by BHP Group (BHP). The market may feel tired around the 8600 level, but it continues to frustrate the bears as stock and sector rotation remain the main game in town.
Energy & Resources led the charge today with BHP back knocking on the door of $40, and is now up more than 8% in FY26 relative to Comm Bank (CBA) which has fallen ~3%.
Stocks have shown increasing complacency to US tariff threats, and they will face another test this morning after President Donald Trump declared a 30% rate for the European Union and Mexico, effective August 1st. He said Mexico had failed to do enough to stop the flow of fentanyl into the US and complained that the EU’s trade deficit with the US was unfair, almost ~$US150bn last year, as can be seen below.
The ASX200 slipped 0.3% last week after dancing around the psychological 8600 level almost daily. While the index traded in a tight range, it was a very different story on the stock and sector level, with utilities surging +3.4% while real estate fell -3.2%, two theoretically rate-sensitive sectors moving in opposite directions. However, most of the action unfolded in the resources with a strong advance by iron ore in the back end of the week, helping heavyweight BHP Group (BHP) bounce over $2 to test its March high.
The ASX 200 once again knocked its head on the 8600 level today, with a strong open sold into as US Futures tracked lower during our time zone after news emerged of a potential 35% tariff on imports from Canada to the US.
The ASX 200 closed up +0.6% on Thursday, a further 0.6% gain today, and it will post a fresh intra-day high. The rotation on the stock/sector level is currently chaotic, with yesterday’s moves largely a reversal of Wednesday’s, although the recovery by lithium names continues to gather bullish momentum.
Between copper, pharmaceutical and country-specific tariffs sprayed across the globe by U.S President Donald Trump overnight, there was plenty on the macro front for the local bourse to digest today.
The ASX200 fell 0.6% on Wednesday, its largest decline in two months, as the market spent its 26th day rotating in a relatively tight 200-point range. However, while the index has been very calm for almost six weeks on the stock level, it’s been a very different story with the return of tariff uncertainty and the ever-changing perceptions around the future path for interest rates, spiking volatility across stocks – it’s just been a case of rotation between sectors instead of between stocks and cash.
