What Matters Today: Retail stocks are struggling into a bumper Christmas?

The ASX200 continues to struggle to advance much above 7400 as it pays respect to the historical statistics in play i.e. the bulls may have to wait until the Melbourne Cup runners are off and running before we can see a sustained challenge on 7500, and above. Yesterday saw the index drift from its lunchtime highs in sympathy with US futures, the COVID re-opening names experienced further profit taking while the Real Estate Sector was the standout top performer.

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Morning report 23/07/2025 10:37

Portfolio Positioning: Iron Ore for growth & yield as it tops $US100

The ASX200 struggled to close up +0.1% on Tuesday, with over 40% of the main board closing lower, and notable weakness in the influential banking sector.

Afternoon report 22/07/2025 17:04

The Match Out: ASX edges higher, Resources & Healthcare lead

While it was quiet session from an index perspective, we saw further sector rotation sweep through the ASX with Materials outperforming Financials by ~4%, and if we look at the last 5 trading sessions, that divergence extends to ~7%. Resources are running as the market consolidates its recent breakout above 8600.

Morning report 22/07/2025 11:08

What Matters Today: Should we follow Warren Buffett out of the banks?

The ASX200 closed down more than 1% on Monday, enduring its worst drop in three months. The last two trading days have seen similar see-saw action to a pair of days in early April, hopefully it's not a precursor of the volatility ahead!

Afternoon report 21/07/2025 17:06

The Match Out: Banks drag ASX lower, Miners remain well bid

We’ve written about sector rotation a lot in recent notes and today was another clear example of the theme playing out, with banks underperforming resources by a significant ~2.5%. News that Warren Buffett was selling down bank holdings was sighted as a catalyst, and it probably played a part.

Morning report 21/07/2025 09:24

Macro Monday: Equities punch to new highs on a lack of negative news

Since April, global indices have shrugged off bad news almost with disdain, leaving many pundits looking for new reasons to justify a potential fall in stocks. Most importantly, for all the political noise and recession warnings, the linchpin US economy remains resilient, allowing markets to scale new heights.

Weekend report 19/07/2025 08:53

Weekend Q&A: The bulls are stampeding like Pamplona

The ASX200 rallied another +2.1% last week, posting a fresh closing high on Friday, extending July’s gain to +2.5%. Gains were broad-based over the five days, with all 11 of the main sectors closing higher, led by Tech and healthcare, which surged +5.2% and +4.8% respectively. The trend remains clearly bullish, and while the average gain for the month of July over the last decade is around 3% equities are breaking to new highs with strong momentum, and as we mentioned on Friday morning, the surprises in markets usually unfold with the trend - the best two Julys of the last decade have delivered gains closer to 6%.

Afternoon report 18/07/2025 17:23

The Match Out: Bang! ASX breaks out of its trading range, scales new highs

Bang! The ASX broke out of its recent tight trading range today, trading above 8700 for the first time, buoyed by coordinated buying across the material and healthcare sectors, with technology also having a good crack. Softer employment data yesterday brings into play 3 rate cuts this side of Christmas, which is a bullish catalyst, however, today looked more momentum driven, with a clean break above a 6-week trading range, dovetailing in with low school holiday volumes – a quick trip into the city this am and a strong market – a win/win

Alerts 18/07/2025 10:03

Trade Alerts – Active Growth & Core ETF Portfolio

We are making changes across two portfolios today

Morning report 18/07/2025 09:22

ETF Friday: Using ETFs to invest across the Banking Sector, home and abroad

The ASX 200 closed up +0.9% on Thursday, posting both a fresh intraday and closing high. The catalyst being a surprisingly weak June jobs report, which increased the case for three rate cuts before Christmas - two were already being fully factored in.

Afternoon report 17/07/2025 17:09

The Match Out: Soft jobs data surely means a rate cut in August! Stocks rally

A positive open this morning, but the buyers really kicked into gear following softer employment data out at 11.30am which opens the door for a rate cut at the next meeting, they should have cut last week! Rate sensitive sectors faired best, though the love was broadly spread with 80% of the main board ending higher.