The heavyweight US indices powered to fresh all-time highs on Friday night. However, the weekend delivered another twist to the Iran saga with US President Trump abruptly cancelling the planned envoy trip to Pakistan for peace talks, citing unnecessary costs and a disappointing offer from Tehran.
The ASX200 fell sharply on Wednesday, dragged lower by healthcare and banking stocks, while miners offered little support to offset the weakness. The bears dominated the company news, with Cochlear (ASX:COH) -41%, Generation Development (ASX:GDG) -23%, and Bank of Queensland (ASX:BOQ) -9.1% pushing a bounce by Treasury Wine (ASX:TWE) +17% into the shade. The ongoing weakness in the banking sector, combined with heavy selling in healthcare stocks, accounted for more than 95% of the day's decline, underscoring the market's concentration of weakness. Similarly, the trifecta of Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA), Cochlear (ASX:COH) and CSL Ltd (ASX:CSL) made up 50% of the day's decline on their own.
The ASX200 finished a choppy session little changed on Tuesday, for a third straight session, amid a looming US-Iran ceasefire deadline and continued tensions over control of the Strait of Hormuz. Overall, it was a quiet session on both the stock and sector front with only the consumer staples (+0.76%) and energy sector (-0.9%) moving by more than 0.5%, with the index remaining range-bound between 8890 and 9020 for the 10th consecutive session.
The ASX200 clawed back early losses to finish marginally higher on Monday, up just 0.1%, after the Strait of Hormuz was effectively shut again almost as quickly as it had reopened. Another session where the market held its ground despite the weekend's escalation in Gulf tensions, and another reminder that investors have largely stopped reacting to each new headline with fresh conviction. The net result was more of the same: headline fatigue is well and truly setting in.
Friday delivered a textbook geopolitical whipsaw. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 surged to fresh record highs, and crude oil sold off sharply after Iran's Foreign Minister declared the Strait of Hormuz fully open for commercial traffic — markets breathed, algos bought, and risk was back on.
For a third consecutive session, the ASX 200 opened strongly above 9000 before falling away throughout the day, dragged lower by the influential banks - it must be reading the MM report this week! Such is the hefty influence of the banks that, although over 60% of the main board closed higher on Thursday, an average drop by the “Big Four Banks” of over 2% was enough to drag the index down by 0.3%. Under the hood, the markets following the MM script so far this week.
The ASX200 again drifted lower after a strong open to finish Wednesday's session up just +0.1% - closing above the psychological 9000 level is proving tough after the recent strong run. The banks were again the main drag on the index, with the “Big Four Banks” all closing down on the day, with Westpac’s -1.9% fall the standout following their Tuesday update. On the sector level, the tech names outperformed for a change, gaining +2.4% while the energy names took the wooden spoon, slipping -1.9%.
The ASX200 limped to a 45-point gain on Tuesday, after opening with a bang it surrendered more than 50% of its early gains as the banks came under pressure, courtesy of Westpac (ASX:WBC). From a points perspective it was very much a market of two halves with the two heavyweight market sectors pulling in opposing directions:
We felt the ASX200 delivered a solid performance on Monday given the weekend's disappointing developments out of Pakistan around the US-Iran war, and the headwind of weakening global futures throughout our session.
The ASX200 fell sharply on Wednesday, dragged lower by healthcare and banking stocks, while miners offered little support to offset the weakness. The bears dominated the company news, with Cochlear (ASX:COH) -41%, Generation Development (ASX:GDG) -23%, and Bank of Queensland (ASX:BOQ) -9.1% pushing a bounce by Treasury Wine (ASX:TWE) +17% into the shade. The ongoing weakness in the banking sector, combined with heavy selling in healthcare stocks, accounted for more than 95% of the day's decline, underscoring the market's concentration of weakness. Similarly, the trifecta of Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA), Cochlear (ASX:COH) and CSL Ltd (ASX:CSL) made up 50% of the day's decline on their own.
The ASX200 finished a choppy session little changed on Tuesday, for a third straight session, amid a looming US-Iran ceasefire deadline and continued tensions over control of the Strait of Hormuz. Overall, it was a quiet session on both the stock and sector front with only the consumer staples (+0.76%) and energy sector (-0.9%) moving by more than 0.5%, with the index remaining range-bound between 8890 and 9020 for the 10th consecutive session.
The ASX200 clawed back early losses to finish marginally higher on Monday, up just 0.1%, after the Strait of Hormuz was effectively shut again almost as quickly as it had reopened. Another session where the market held its ground despite the weekend's escalation in Gulf tensions, and another reminder that investors have largely stopped reacting to each new headline with fresh conviction. The net result was more of the same: headline fatigue is well and truly setting in.
Friday delivered a textbook geopolitical whipsaw. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 surged to fresh record highs, and crude oil sold off sharply after Iran's Foreign Minister declared the Strait of Hormuz fully open for commercial traffic — markets breathed, algos bought, and risk was back on.
For a third consecutive session, the ASX 200 opened strongly above 9000 before falling away throughout the day, dragged lower by the influential banks - it must be reading the MM report this week! Such is the hefty influence of the banks that, although over 60% of the main board closed higher on Thursday, an average drop by the “Big Four Banks” of over 2% was enough to drag the index down by 0.3%. Under the hood, the markets following the MM script so far this week.
The ASX200 again drifted lower after a strong open to finish Wednesday's session up just +0.1% - closing above the psychological 9000 level is proving tough after the recent strong run. The banks were again the main drag on the index, with the “Big Four Banks” all closing down on the day, with Westpac’s -1.9% fall the standout following their Tuesday update. On the sector level, the tech names outperformed for a change, gaining +2.4% while the energy names took the wooden spoon, slipping -1.9%.
The ASX200 limped to a 45-point gain on Tuesday, after opening with a bang it surrendered more than 50% of its early gains as the banks came under pressure, courtesy of Westpac (ASX:WBC). From a points perspective it was very much a market of two halves with the two heavyweight market sectors pulling in opposing directions:
We felt the ASX200 delivered a solid performance on Monday given the weekend's disappointing developments out of Pakistan around the US-Iran war, and the headwind of weakening global futures throughout our session.
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