ASX 200 ends the week down 1.2% as tech soars and miners sink, with a US jobs shock waiting for Monday
ASX 200 week close: 8,625 (-1.22%) S&P 500 Friday close: 7,384 (-2.64%) Sentiment: mixed
The week on the ASX
The ASX 200 closed the week at 8,625, down 1.22% or 107 points from the prior Friday. That was its first weekly fall in three weeks and the worst in a month, but the headline number hides a sharp split underneath it. Information technology was the standout, rising about 8.5% across the five sessions as the sector kept clawing back its 51% slide from mid-2025 highs to the March low. Materials went the other way. Gold, lithium and rare-earth names fell hard as metal prices retreated, and iron ore eased toward two-month lows near US$102 a tonne, pulling the heavyweight miners with it. Financials stayed subdued after the 12 May Federal Budget, with the market weighing whether new tax measures slow credit growth and house prices.
The local week also wrapped before the main event landed. The ASX shut on Friday afternoon, AEST, several hours before the US jobs report hit the wires and set off a heavy US selloff overnight. So Monday's open on 8 June has to catch up to a risk-off move that the local market has not yet had a chance to price.
Sector scorecard (5-day)
- Best: information technology, about +8.5% on the week, led by MP1.AU, WTC.AU and TNE.AU
- Worst: materials, lower across the board as gold fell 4.5% and iron ore eased toward US$102 a tonne
- Gold miners took the heaviest hits, with KCN.AU down 17.6% and RSG.AU down 11.7%
- Lithium developers also gave ground, VUL.AU down 15.0% and LTR.AU down 11.6%, after a strong May
- Dispersion was wide: the best single name (MP1.AU +23.3%) and the worst (BRE.AU -24.5%) sat about 48 points apart
Top movers (week ending 5 June)
| Ticker | Week | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| MP1.AU | +23.3% | Back from a halt after a A$827m raise and four AI contracts worth A$459m |
| SRG.AU | +21.7% | Won A$1.85b of contracts and lifted both FY26 and FY27 earnings guidance |
| TUA.AU | +20.3% | Rebounded after last week's 10% drop on the scrapped M1 deal |
| TEA.AU | +16.7% | A$254m Maxim Group buy adds data-centre work, plus a special dividend |
| 360.AU | +13.8% | A$225m buyback launched on record first-quarter users and ad revenue |
| BRE.AU | -24.5% | Profit-taking in the rare-earths high-flyer; no fresh news this week |
| KCN.AU | -17.6% | Gold's 4.5% weekly fall hit a miner that quadrupled in 2025 |
| DRO.AU | -15.6% | Defence momentum name kept unwinding, down about 20% over the month |
| VUL.AU | -15.0% | Lithium developer handed back May's gains as materials fell |
| ELV.AU | -14.4% | Same lithium pullback; Elevra is the former Sayona Mining |
Friday US session
- S&P 500: 7,384 (-2.64%)
- Nasdaq: 25,709 (-4.18%)
- Dow: 50,867 (-1.35%)
- VIX: 21.5, up about 40% on the day
The US closed the week with its worst session since the April 2025 tariff turmoil, and the cause was a single data point. May nonfarm payrolls rose 172,000 against the 80,000 economists expected, with unemployment steady at 4.3% and wages up 3.4% over the year. A labour market running that hot pushed back the case for Federal Reserve rate cuts and put a rate rise back on the table, lifting the 10-year Treasury yield above 4.5%. Rate-sensitive technology and chip stocks took the brunt, and the Nasdaq's 4.18% fall stripped roughly US$1 trillion from the market in a day. Gold dropped 3.35% on Friday as yields climbed, and the Australian dollar slipped to about US$0.705. Because the ASX had already closed for the week, none of this shows up in the local five-day tally.
Macro themes that played out
The spine of the week was the US labour market. Even before Friday, the data ran hot: ISM services and manufacturing both beat forecasts, with the ISM services prices-paid gauge at 71.3, its highest in nearly four years, while private payrolls and job openings also topped estimates. Friday's 172,000 print sealed the trend and flipped the rate debate. By the close, the US market was pricing a tightening move in December and a full 25 basis-point hike by March 2027, after the Fed held its funds rate at 3.50% to 3.75% in April on the most divided vote since 1992.
At home the picture is the opposite of comfortable. First-quarter GDP grew just 0.3%, below the 0.5% forecast and down from 0.9%, while building approvals fell 3.4% and company gross operating profits slipped 1.3%. Inflation was still 4.2% in April, above the 2 to 3% target band, and the rate market expects the RBA to add roughly 24 basis points of tightening across the rest of 2026. The one clear positive was trade: April swung back to a A$1.79 billion surplus on a rebound in exports.
Week ahead, Monday to Friday (AEST)
- Mon 8 June: Japan current account (9:50am), a quiet start for local desks
- Tue 9 June: Australian Westpac consumer confidence (10:30am) and NAB business confidence (11:30am); China trade balance (1:00pm)
- Wed 10 June: China CPI and PPI (11:30am); US May CPI (10:30pm), the marquee print, with consensus near 4.2% annual
- Thu 11 June: US PPI (10:30pm); European Central Bank rate decision (10:15pm), where a 25 basis-point hike is expected
- Fri 12 June: New Zealand BNZ PMI (8:30am); UK first-quarter GDP (4:00pm)
The RBA's own call lands the following Tuesday, 16 June at 2:30pm AEST. It sits just outside this window, but after a 4.2% inflation read it is the next major domestic catalyst.
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