The ASX 200 enjoyed another solid performance on Wednesday, trading lower in the first hour before again pushing up throughout the session to finish the day up +0.6%. The local bourse has delivered consecutive strong intra-day performances, despite headwinds from overseas markets, with US S&P futures trending lower while we pushed higher, daring us to question if the ASX has finally regained its mojo?
The ASX showed impressive resilience on Tuesday, reversing early triple-digit losses to finish down just 0.21%, in a near carbon copy of the previous week's price action. The broader market was healthier than the index implied, with fewer than 40% of stocks on the main board closing lower. However, the heavyweight miners continued to cause a significant drag, with BHP alone effectively accounting for all of the ASX200's decline. As June 30 approaches, some profit-taking and performance reversion are beginning to emerge across one of the market's standout-performing sectors.
We read an interesting article in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) over the weekend, by Macquarie’s Viktor Shvets, around how to “play broken bubbly markets”. It was a good read by the well-respected Global Strategist, but the paragraph that caught our attention was around liquidity, one of the reasons MM has remained bullish towards global equities in 2026 - remember most major indices have enjoyed a solid albeit volatile year.
The ASX200 retreated on Thursday as geopolitical concerns returned to the forefront, with fresh hostilities between the US and Iran offsetting recent optimism around peace negotiations. At the same time, investors took the opportunity to bank gains in the high-flying mining sector, which has supported the market through May.
The ASX 200 traded above 8800 on Wednesday for the first time in four weeks as the miners and energy stocks pushed the index up +0.6% despite less than 45% of the main board closing higher. From a performance perspective, it was very much a case of “same story, different day” with BHP’s +2.4% advance, posting new all-time highs again, contributing ~60% of the main board's advance.
The ASX performed resolutely on Tuesday to reverse early triple-digit losses and end the day down just -0.1%. In line with the 2026 playbook, the heavyweight miners, ably supported by the tech stocks, largely offset weakness in the banks, rate-sensitive stocks and the broader market, which saw over 60% of the main board close lower on the day. It's becoming repetitive of late, but +1.4% rally by BHP Group (ASX: BHP), to another all-time high, combined with positive moves by RIO Tinto (ASX: RIO) and Northern Star (ASX: NST) to add 30-points to the index, but weakness in the banks, and in particular ANZ, Westpac and NAB was enough to take more than 20-points from the index.
The ASX 200 struggled on Monday despite the bullish offshore leads from Wall Street - again, the Australian market remains more correlated to European bourses than the more widely discussed US peers. However, the local market managed to recover from early-morning weakness to end the first session of June marginally lower, as the miners again countered the ongoing weakness in the banking sector, primarily due to a 1% dip in Commonwealth Bank (ASX: CBA). With BHP Group (ASX: BHP) posting new all-time highs yesterday lunchtime and the “Big Four Banks” weighed down by concerns around the housing market post the budget, and high valuations compared to their international peers, we see no reason to fade the outperformance by the miners versus the banks:
Over the past fortnight, the ASX has enjoyed some much-needed support from a welcome shift in the interest-rate outlook, with softer-than-expected employment and inflation data easing concerns that the RBA may need to tighten policy further.
The ASX200 was clobbered 1.4% on Thursday as the US struck Iranian military targets for the second time this week and Kuwait said it responded to missile and drone threats, highlighting the fragility of the “so-called” ceasefire. Crude oil popped ~3% on the news, sending Asian indices and US futures sharply lower, with no clear end in sight to the geopolitical uncertainty. Global equities, not so much the ASX, may want to rally, but with roughly 20% of global oil and LNG supply effectively constrained by disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz, the market will need to see the waterway reopen soon, or the confidence currently underpinning risk assets may begin to fade quickly.
The ASX 200 roared back to life on Wednesday, reversing early weakness to close up 0.7%, with aggressive late-session buying sweeping through the market and reigniting risk appetite. Over 70% of the main board closed higher, but it was the rate-sensitive stocks that started to move after the April inflation numbers came in slightly better than expected - Consumer Discretionary (+1.8%), Tech (+1.8%), Utilities (+1.7%), and Real Estate (+1.6%) were the top four sectors on the day.
The ASX showed impressive resilience on Tuesday, reversing early triple-digit losses to finish down just 0.21%, in a near carbon copy of the previous week's price action. The broader market was healthier than the index implied, with fewer than 40% of stocks on the main board closing lower. However, the heavyweight miners continued to cause a significant drag, with BHP alone effectively accounting for all of the ASX200's decline. As June 30 approaches, some profit-taking and performance reversion are beginning to emerge across one of the market's standout-performing sectors.
We read an interesting article in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) over the weekend, by Macquarie’s Viktor Shvets, around how to “play broken bubbly markets”. It was a good read by the well-respected Global Strategist, but the paragraph that caught our attention was around liquidity, one of the reasons MM has remained bullish towards global equities in 2026 - remember most major indices have enjoyed a solid albeit volatile year.
The ASX200 retreated on Thursday as geopolitical concerns returned to the forefront, with fresh hostilities between the US and Iran offsetting recent optimism around peace negotiations. At the same time, investors took the opportunity to bank gains in the high-flying mining sector, which has supported the market through May.
The ASX 200 traded above 8800 on Wednesday for the first time in four weeks as the miners and energy stocks pushed the index up +0.6% despite less than 45% of the main board closing higher. From a performance perspective, it was very much a case of “same story, different day” with BHP’s +2.4% advance, posting new all-time highs again, contributing ~60% of the main board's advance.
The ASX performed resolutely on Tuesday to reverse early triple-digit losses and end the day down just -0.1%. In line with the 2026 playbook, the heavyweight miners, ably supported by the tech stocks, largely offset weakness in the banks, rate-sensitive stocks and the broader market, which saw over 60% of the main board close lower on the day. It's becoming repetitive of late, but +1.4% rally by BHP Group (ASX: BHP), to another all-time high, combined with positive moves by RIO Tinto (ASX: RIO) and Northern Star (ASX: NST) to add 30-points to the index, but weakness in the banks, and in particular ANZ, Westpac and NAB was enough to take more than 20-points from the index.
The ASX 200 struggled on Monday despite the bullish offshore leads from Wall Street - again, the Australian market remains more correlated to European bourses than the more widely discussed US peers. However, the local market managed to recover from early-morning weakness to end the first session of June marginally lower, as the miners again countered the ongoing weakness in the banking sector, primarily due to a 1% dip in Commonwealth Bank (ASX: CBA). With BHP Group (ASX: BHP) posting new all-time highs yesterday lunchtime and the “Big Four Banks” weighed down by concerns around the housing market post the budget, and high valuations compared to their international peers, we see no reason to fade the outperformance by the miners versus the banks:
Over the past fortnight, the ASX has enjoyed some much-needed support from a welcome shift in the interest-rate outlook, with softer-than-expected employment and inflation data easing concerns that the RBA may need to tighten policy further.
The ASX200 was clobbered 1.4% on Thursday as the US struck Iranian military targets for the second time this week and Kuwait said it responded to missile and drone threats, highlighting the fragility of the “so-called” ceasefire. Crude oil popped ~3% on the news, sending Asian indices and US futures sharply lower, with no clear end in sight to the geopolitical uncertainty. Global equities, not so much the ASX, may want to rally, but with roughly 20% of global oil and LNG supply effectively constrained by disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz, the market will need to see the waterway reopen soon, or the confidence currently underpinning risk assets may begin to fade quickly.
The ASX 200 roared back to life on Wednesday, reversing early weakness to close up 0.7%, with aggressive late-session buying sweeping through the market and reigniting risk appetite. Over 70% of the main board closed higher, but it was the rate-sensitive stocks that started to move after the April inflation numbers came in slightly better than expected - Consumer Discretionary (+1.8%), Tech (+1.8%), Utilities (+1.7%), and Real Estate (+1.6%) were the top four sectors on the day.
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