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The ASX200 limped to a 45-point gain on Tuesday, after opening with a bang it surrendered more than 50% of its early gains as the banks came under pressure, courtesy of Westpac (ASX:WBC). From a points perspective it was very much a market of two halves with the two heavyweight market sectors pulling in opposing directions:
Today’s session kicked off with a strong open with the index pushing through the 9,000 level for the first time since early March before giving back some ground through the day, ultimately consolidating through the afternoon into the close.
We felt the ASX200 delivered a solid performance on Monday given the weekend’s disappointing developments out of Pakistan around the US-Iran war, and the headwind of weakening global futures throughout our session.
The ASX finished lower today though the move was somewhat contained considering the escalation in rhetoric around the Middle East conflict. The local market entered the session digesting the breakdown of peace talks between the US and Iran in Pakistan over the weekend, with President Donald Trump announcing plans for a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, causing a +7% spike in oil prices.
Global equities posted a solid rally last week, driven by hopes that the US-Iran ceasefire would fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz — removing a key inflation risk and clearing the path for global growth to regain momentum before any lasting economic damage was done.
The local market softened today, though not by much, with the ASX200 index still capping off a strong week, rising +3.3% over the period as markets continued to rebound following the US-Iran ceasefire. Risk appetite cooled with investors trimming positions ahead of talks between US and Iranian officials in Pakistan over the weekend, while uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz and the resumption of tanker traffic continues to cloud the near-term outlook for energy markets.
The ASX 200 recovered from early losses to close up +0.2% on Thursday taking the market to its highest close since March 3rd, just as the Iran war broke out. Over 55% of the main board closed lower on the day but a strong session by the banks was enough to push the index higher, shrugging off steep losses across the software stocks after Anthropic launched Claude Managed Agents and Meta unveiled a new AI model – the “AI Disruption Trade” reared its head again causing indiscriminate selling in the local Tech stocks, sending the sector down another -6.5%.
The ASX 200 edged higher today, extending the relief rally sparked by the Iran ceasefire announcement yesterday morning, though gains were modest as investors continued to weigh the fragility of the agreement and the ongoing disruption to traffic and oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz. The mixed tone across sectors reflected that backdrop, with energy leading gains while technology stocks gave back some of their strong advances from the prior session.
The ASX200 surged out of the gates on Wednesday and held its gains throughout the session, closing up +2.6%, its strongest performance in a year, after news of a two-week US–Iran ceasefire sparked a global relief rally. Wednesdays rally was broad-based, with 88% of the main board closing higher and an impressive 19 names jumping by +10%, or more. From a points perspective the miners and banks again led the way with BHP and CBA contributing ~20% towards the days advance which took the ASX200 back within 3% of its all-time high.
