What Matters Today: Can the Miners rally as China cuts rates & prepares to meet the US?

The ASX 200 lived in the future rather than the past on Wednesday, ignoring a weak overnight session on Wall Street, instead focusing on the fresh news that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and top trade official Jamieson Greer would meet with their Chinese counterparts this week in Switzerland.

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Afternoon report 08/05/2025 18:05

The Match Out: ASX inches higher on trade optimism

A fairly quiet day across the board, though, it was positive with 75% of the main board finishing in the green as Trump talks up trade deals…"Big News Conference tomorrow morning at 10:00 A.M.," he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Morning report 08/05/2025 09:52

What Matters Today: Can the Miners rally as China cuts rates & prepares to meet the US?

Afternoon report 07/05/2025 17:08

The Match Out: NAB reports well as ASX grinds higher

It was a mixed session for the local bourse as China’s long-awaited rate cuts came into play, lifting commodities and energy stocks higher. A solid result from NAB provided the bedrock for a decent rally through the middle of the day, with US futures giving an extra kick amid expectations Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is due to meet senior Chinese officials in Switzerland on Thursday.

Morning report 07/05/2025 09:32

Portfolio Positioning: The ASX200 takes a rest as Fund Managers camp out at Macquarie

The ASX200 slipped 0.1% on Tuesday, posting its second consecutive negative session, although it's hardly made a dent in the aggressive 15% recovery from the early April panic lows. Trading was relatively subdued with fund managers focused on the Macquarie Australia Conference, which is often regarded as an early confession opportunity. Results were mixed on Tuesday, but the presentations continue to move markets as investors look for clues around what comes next, outside of the chatter around Trump and the weekend Federal Election.

Afternoon report 06/05/2025 16:57

The Match Out: Banks weigh as Macquarie Conference kicks off

A second day of declines for the ASX, though it was hardly aggressive, and more stocks actually rose than fell, as banks and healthcare names weighed at the index level. The Macquarie conference kicked off this morning and we’ve seen a bunch of companies recut guidance, more on the downside than upside which is customary but it wasn’t all bad news with several re-affirming prior numbers.

Morning report 06/05/2025 10:55

What Matters Today: Can oil stocks eventually follow the gold sector?

The ASX200 struggled on Monday following a mildly softer report from Westpac (WBC), the first influential bank to face the music this month. Their headline first-half miss on profit, a flat dividend (76c) when the market was looking for an increase and a slight net interest margin (NIM) contraction sent the 4th largest stock on the bourse down 3% on the day.

Afternoon report 05/05/2025 17:05

The Match Out: ASX snaps winning streak with banks under the pump

Red returned to the screen today with broad based weakness across the ASX. The banks came under pressure after Westpac’s 1H25 numbers mildly underwhelmed while a sharp pullback in Oil prices put the Kibosh on the energy stocks. It’s been a very good run in the market from the 7th April low of 7169, with the ASX 200 up ~1000pts / 15%, some consolidation of the move now likely in our view.

Morning report 05/05/2025 09:40

Macro Monday: Earnings & tariff optimism continues to drive recovery

The S&P 500 has extended its post “Liberation Day” rally to the longest winning streak in two decades, with worries around tariffs being replaced by “Fear of Missing Out” (FOMO) for cashed-up investors. A strong jobs report on Friday compounded optimism that the US and China’s dialogue around tariffs would prove fruitful.

Weekend report 03/05/2025 09:20

Weekend Q&A: Offshore buying propels the ASX higher

The ASX 200 surged another +3.4% last week, taking the main index up almost 15% from its April low, amazingly back within 4.4% of its February all-time high. We suspected “Offshore Buying” had been creeping into our market, and the last three sessions convinced us of it as the market again ended another week on its highs. All 11 main sectors finished the week higher, but a +9.6% surge by the tech sector stood out after strong earnings from US heavyweights Microsoft (MSFT US) and Meta Platforms (META US) re-ignited the “AI trade” and overall belief towards the tech/growth names:

Afternoon report 02/05/2025 17:32

The Match Out: Energy leads the charge as ASX rallies to 2-month high

The trend of ‘risk off into the weekend’, prevalent in early April, has well and truly flipped as the ASX closed higher on the final trading day of the week for the 3rd consecutive week this afternoon.