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The ASX200 finished up +0.3% on Wednesday after an initial dip into lunchtime, following hotter-than-expected inflation data, which cooled expectations for a September rate cut. The big miners drove the market along with selected earnings standouts, even as the chances of a rate cut next month fell towards 20%.
Copper stocks were the place to be today, with the sector rallying strongly following production issues at Freeport McMoran’s Indonesian operation, with no clear time frame for resumption. The move in Copper (+4%) highlights how tight the global market is for this critical input, highlighting why we remain bullish over the medium term. Stocks with exposure here from Sandfire (SFR) +7.6% to Aic Miners (A1M) +9.7%, Capstone (CSC) +10.8% and even BHP +3.6% led the line today, mirroring moves seen across copper companies globally. Elsewhere, banks were mildly better after a tough session yesterday, while the market recovered nicely from early morning weakness, the finish up 35 points from the morning lows.
The ASX200 fell 0.9% on Wednesday, driven lower by the financials and healthcare stocks. The market struggled early on, following a soft session on Wall Street, before the selling intensified after the monthly inflation read came in hotter than expected. Consumer prices rose 3.0 per cent in the year to August, slightly above the 2.9% expected, effectively killing any hope the RBA would cut interest rates next week.
A few cracks started appearing in the ASX today, with the recently buoyant banking sector in the cross hairs, the big 4 dropping an average of ~2.2% accounting for 50% of the main board’s ~80pt decline.
The ASX200 rose 0.4% on Tuesday, posting its 3rd consecutive gain, led by the financials and in particular the Big Four banks, which averaged a gain of ~0.8%. The materials sector was again strong, testing its 12-month high under the power of the large-cap iron ore miners and rampant gold market, which we will look at later, as China gave the precious metal another reason to charge higher.
The ASX 200 finished +0.4% higher on a fairly choppy Monday, which saw a very strong local market opening, eventually losing half of the early gains. The gains were very stock/sector specific, with only 6 of the main 11 sectors closing higher, but a stomping +2.6% session by the materials stocks was enough to drive the market higher, with gold equities again the shining light with the precious metal breaking well above the $US3,700/oz milestone.
The ASX traded higher to start the week, supported by strength across the resource complex as iron ore, copper, lithium and gold all pushed up, although the rally was trimmed from early highs as energy and financial stocks lagged.
US stocks have defied sceptics in 2025, surging to record highs despite a global trade war, fiscal uncertainty, and now September’s traditionally weak reputation. The S&P 500 has added $US16 trillion in market value since April, driven largely by Big Tech, notching ~30 records and rallying 38% in five months, a pace surpassed only four times in the last 75 years.
The ASX200 ended last week down 1% with only the rate-sensitive tech, consumer discretionary and utilities sectors taking some solace from the Fed's 0.25% rate cut. The energy sector stood out in the losers enclosure, dropping 4% after Abu Dhabi National Oil Co’s investment arm, XRG, walked away from its $36.4bn bid for Santos (STO). The market traded in another tight 150-point/1.7% range as the Fed rate cut failed to deliver any meaningful lead.
The ASX opened with a bang this morning but closed with more of a whimper after the Bank of Japan held rates steady at 0.5% as expected but surprised markets by announcing plans to sell down its massive ETF and REIT holdings, weighing on Japanese equities (Nikkei -0.9%), and dragging the ASX back from early highs.
Chinese tech stocks posted a near four-year high on Thursday as AI-fuelled buying and a regulatory ban on an Nvidia Corp. chip boosted prospects for domestic rivals. The Hang Seng Tech Index rose as much as 2% on Thursday, before fading into the close, building on Wednesday’s 4.2% rally that marked its highest close since November 2021. Gains followed a Chinese regulator’s order to halt imports for Nvidia’s RTX Pro 6000D, seen as a boost for domestic chipmakers. Chinese chipmaker SMIC contributed the most to the tech index’s advance, with shares surging as much as 8.3% in Hong Kong. Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd. jumped as much as 13%. Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Baidu Inc., which are developing their homegrown alternatives to foreign chips, also rose.
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