What a week. Markets ran for cover as fears mounted that artificial intelligence (AI) could render many software business models redundant, or at least sharply devalue them. The issue was compounded by the fact that many of these software names were trading on lofty valuations in the anticipation of unrelenting growth. The potential risk of contraction compared to expansion has seen numerous household names halve in value over the last 6 months, from Xero and WiseTech on the ASX to Atlassian and Adobe in the US.
The ASX 200 had a fairly quiet day at the index level, while at the stock/sector level, it was like Guy Fawkes night, with fireworks flying in every direction. Thursday's session saw further aggressive selling across the high-flying resources, while some recently out-of-favour stocks came back into favour as selective bargain hunting played out across the ASX. Perhaps some switching/rotation is taking hold as commodity prices look to cool.
The ASX 200 rallied 0.8% on Wednesday, but the index wasn’t where the real action was. It was a tale of two sectors: strong buying across the miners, and aggressive selling in software stocks. Concerns around AI disruption reverberated through global markets on Tuesday night, and the local names weren’t spared yesterday; if anything, they magnified the losses with most stocks closing on their intraday low as money poured into the more tangible resources stocks.
The ASX200 leapt out of the gate on Tuesday, embracing strong gains on Wall Street and a bounce across influential metal stocks, helping the material sector post a 1.5% gain. Interestingly, the embattled tech sector also enjoyed a rare day in the sun, gaining +1.9%. It's not often that an RBA rate hike has to vie for the market's attention, but that was the case yesterday as there was little surprise from Michelle Bullock et al while the precious metal rollercoaster kept riding high - gold traded in a relatively quiet $US330/oz range over the last 24-hours, absurd compared to its historical volatility.
Monday saw the ASX 200 open sharply lower and continue to fall throughout most of the day as the miners were smacked following the aggressive selling in the US on Friday. The weakness extended during our day session, with silver down another 10% in the afternoon. The weakness in the mining stocks was by far the biggest drag on the ASX200, with the materials sectors 3.1% decline wiping 68-points off the main board, or 75% of the days 1% drop. The falls across the resource names were significant, considering the losses already endured on Friday:
Recent years have seen a sharp rise in crowded trades as momentum investing has come into vogue. But as so often happens when the music stops playing, conviction can evaporate in an instant. In the blink of an eye, trillions can be wiped out as investors and traders stampede toward the same narrow exit.
The ASX 200 recovered from early steep losses yesterday to end Thursday's session down just -0.1%, the reverse of Wednesday's price action. It was another session of polarised performance, although most eyes on trading desks were glued to the prices of copper and gold, whose volatility was almost unprecedented. In the early afternoon, Chinese property stocks surged over +10% after Beijing News confirmed that authorities have softened the strict borrowing rules that had worsened China’s property crash. The impact on the related stocks of the ASX was huge. BHP Group (BHP) reversed early losses to advance +1.80%, while Sandfire Resources (SFR) surged, closing up +5.2% after copper popped 7% in a couple of hours following the news.
The ASX 200 reversed early gains on Wednesday to end the day down -0.1%. A “hotter” than expected CPI accelerated the selling after 11.30 am as fears of an RBA rate hike next week intensified throughout the day.
The ASX200 leapt out of the gate on Tuesday following strong trading by miners on overseas bourses, and it didn’t look back, closing up +0.9%, at its highest level since October when the index posted its all-time high. The charge higher by the local materials sectors is unrelenting, with yesterday’s +1.7% gain taking the sector up +10.8% year-to-date, and we’re still in January! The gains by some well-known names in 2026 have put the mining bulls in dreamland.
Japan’s bond market has rattled global financial markets several times in recent years, and risks appear to be resurfacing. The most memorable yen carry-trade unwind since COVID started after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) raised interest rates in 2024. The BOJ’s first rate hike came in March 2024, when it ended negative interest rates and lifted the policy rate to just 0–0.1%.
The ASX 200 had a fairly quiet day at the index level, while at the stock/sector level, it was like Guy Fawkes night, with fireworks flying in every direction. Thursday's session saw further aggressive selling across the high-flying resources, while some recently out-of-favour stocks came back into favour as selective bargain hunting played out across the ASX. Perhaps some switching/rotation is taking hold as commodity prices look to cool.
The ASX 200 rallied 0.8% on Wednesday, but the index wasn’t where the real action was. It was a tale of two sectors: strong buying across the miners, and aggressive selling in software stocks. Concerns around AI disruption reverberated through global markets on Tuesday night, and the local names weren’t spared yesterday; if anything, they magnified the losses with most stocks closing on their intraday low as money poured into the more tangible resources stocks.
The ASX200 leapt out of the gate on Tuesday, embracing strong gains on Wall Street and a bounce across influential metal stocks, helping the material sector post a 1.5% gain. Interestingly, the embattled tech sector also enjoyed a rare day in the sun, gaining +1.9%. It's not often that an RBA rate hike has to vie for the market's attention, but that was the case yesterday as there was little surprise from Michelle Bullock et al while the precious metal rollercoaster kept riding high - gold traded in a relatively quiet $US330/oz range over the last 24-hours, absurd compared to its historical volatility.
Monday saw the ASX 200 open sharply lower and continue to fall throughout most of the day as the miners were smacked following the aggressive selling in the US on Friday. The weakness extended during our day session, with silver down another 10% in the afternoon. The weakness in the mining stocks was by far the biggest drag on the ASX200, with the materials sectors 3.1% decline wiping 68-points off the main board, or 75% of the days 1% drop. The falls across the resource names were significant, considering the losses already endured on Friday:
Recent years have seen a sharp rise in crowded trades as momentum investing has come into vogue. But as so often happens when the music stops playing, conviction can evaporate in an instant. In the blink of an eye, trillions can be wiped out as investors and traders stampede toward the same narrow exit.
The ASX 200 recovered from early steep losses yesterday to end Thursday's session down just -0.1%, the reverse of Wednesday's price action. It was another session of polarised performance, although most eyes on trading desks were glued to the prices of copper and gold, whose volatility was almost unprecedented. In the early afternoon, Chinese property stocks surged over +10% after Beijing News confirmed that authorities have softened the strict borrowing rules that had worsened China’s property crash. The impact on the related stocks of the ASX was huge. BHP Group (BHP) reversed early losses to advance +1.80%, while Sandfire Resources (SFR) surged, closing up +5.2% after copper popped 7% in a couple of hours following the news.
The ASX 200 reversed early gains on Wednesday to end the day down -0.1%. A “hotter” than expected CPI accelerated the selling after 11.30 am as fears of an RBA rate hike next week intensified throughout the day.
The ASX200 leapt out of the gate on Tuesday following strong trading by miners on overseas bourses, and it didn’t look back, closing up +0.9%, at its highest level since October when the index posted its all-time high. The charge higher by the local materials sectors is unrelenting, with yesterday’s +1.7% gain taking the sector up +10.8% year-to-date, and we’re still in January! The gains by some well-known names in 2026 have put the mining bulls in dreamland.
Japan’s bond market has rattled global financial markets several times in recent years, and risks appear to be resurfacing. The most memorable yen carry-trade unwind since COVID started after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) raised interest rates in 2024. The BOJ’s first rate hike came in March 2024, when it ended negative interest rates and lifted the policy rate to just 0–0.1%.
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