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The ASX 200 rallied 0.7% on Wednesday, with the banks being the cornerstone of the advance. ANZ was the standout, gaining 3% after falling 3.2% on Tuesday when it appeared the operator with a sell order exercised a very heavy hand.
The Budget released overnight had a typical pre-election vibe with higher spending and higher deficits underpinning front loaded initiatives to win votes. No signs of longer-term structural reforms around productivity nor any progress on reducing Government spending, with gross debt expected to continue to increase sharply ahead, from $940bn (or 33.7% of GDP) in 24/25; to $1,022bn (or 35.5% of GDP) in 25/26.
Yesterday, local shares pared early gains to finish only slightly higher as the “Big Four” banks struggled after a solid start. ANZ was the worst, down over 3% on significant volume after starting the day up around 20c.
In line with President Trump announcing a potential relaxing of tariff policies, we might have expected China-exposed stocks to move up today. Instead, the ASX followed the tech-focused rally in the U.S overnight.
Australian shares recovered from early selling on Monday to close marginally higher, with strength in the banks doing the heavy lifting – CBA, NAB, and Westpac added almost 25 points to the ASX 200.
The market opened down ~20pts before U.S futures kicked in mid-morning spurring a small rally to ~7935 before sitting in a 10-point trading range for the remainder of the day. A negative reaction to the blockbuster acquisition by James Hardie (JHX) highlighted a continued aversion to the U.S early on, though our market was quickly buoyed by a flight to financials, with banks enjoying a good start to the week.
Most pundits are blaming Trump 2.0 and the accompanying uncertainty that tariffs entail for the reason that many global indices have corrected from their recent highs; for example, the ASX 200 has fallen 10.2%, and the US S&P 500 has fallen 10.5%.
It was a better week for local stocks, with the ASX 200 bouncing 1.8% on broad-based gains, which saw all 11 major sectors advance, led by an unusual combination of consumer staples and energy stocks. Following a tough four weeks, the Australian share market notched its best weekly positive performance of 2025, but with new tariffs due on April 2nd, it could still become the calm before the storm. The lack of fresh tariff news and encouraging developments on the interest rate front was enough to “stop the rot” in equity land, but how the market deals with the next wave of bad news will tell us the real story.
Fridays have generally been weak on the ASX with traders showing little appetite to hold stocks over the weekend given Trump’s propensity to make headlines, however, this week was characterized by fewer headlines from the Whitehouse and stocks bounced back as a result, with the main board up 1.8% over the 5 sessions with all sectors finishing in the green.
The ASX 200 enjoyed its best day in six weeks, surging 1.2% on Thursday, clearing 7,900 on broad-based buying, which saw over 80% of the main board close higher. Positive economic news from both the US and domestic markets, particularly regarding interest rates, spurred the rally in equities.
