ASX 200 ends the week up 2.07% as an Iran de-escalation sinks oil; REITs lead, miners drag
ASX 200 week close: 8,804.0 (+2.07%) S&P 500 Friday close: 7,431.46 (+0.50%) Sentiment: bullish
The week on the ASX
The S&P/ASX 200 closed the week to 12 June 2026 at 8,804.0, up 178.9 points or 2.07%, as a late-week Middle East de-escalation collapsed oil and reset risk appetite. The trigger was offshore: on 11 June President Trump suspended planned strikes on Iran and signalled a deal to end the conflict, sending Brent down 3.37% on Friday and 6.19% across the week to US$87.33. That single pivot drained the risk premium out of crude and gold at once, and the US VIX fell 17.81% on the week to 17.68.
The local market rotated hard on it. Money moved out of the resource complex, where gold, uranium and lithium miners filled the entire losers board, and into rate-sensitive names that benefit from a softer inflation path. Real estate investment trusts led the index higher, the insurance and diversified financials ran, and consumer staples held firm. The big banks sat the move out: CBA.AU closed down 0.86% on the week even as the index added 2%, so the rally ran through REITs and financials while the blue-chip banks stayed put. The All Ordinaries finished at 9,006.1, up 1.70%.
Sector scorecard (5-day)
The S&P/ASX 200 real estate names were the clear leaders, up a median of roughly 10% across the major trusts, while uranium was the worst pocket, down a median near 13%.
- Best: Real estate (REITs) up about 10% median. LLC.AU +16.67%, CHC.AU +11.53%, INA.AU +10.46%, SGP.AU +10.44%, CLW.AU +9.68%, DXS.AU +7.85%, GPT.AU +7.81%.
- Worst: Uranium down about 13% median. NXG.AU -13.68%, PDN.AU -12.13%, DYL.AU -10.16%, SLX.AU -15.40%.
- Gold miners down about 6% median: NEM.AU -7.37%, RSG.AU -7.93%, NST.AU -3.12%, OBM.AU -13.67%, with juniors hit hardest.
- Dispersion (REITs best vs uranium worst): about 23 points. Iron-ore majors sat near flat (BHP.AU +2.76%, RIO.AU -0.14%) as the rotation skipped the diversified miners.
Top movers, week ending 12 June
| Ticker | Week | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| SDF.AU | +30.05% | Amwins and Dragoneer $6.00 cash bid; values group near $7.7b |
| A2M.AU | +16.76% | FY26 guidance lifted to mid double-digit growth; China label cleared |
| LLC.AU | +16.67% | REIT bid on falling yields; capital-recycling progress, new CEO |
| RWC.AU | +14.20% | Unannounced; rate-sensitive cyclical caught the bid |
| BXB.AU | +12.35% | On-market buyback support; market looks past May pallet downgrade |
| WBT.AU | -16.42% | Profit-taking after the Texas Instruments ReRAM run; growth de-rate |
| CAT.AU | -15.62% | Small-cap tech sell-off; no company announcement |
| SLX.AU | -15.40% | Uranium complex sold as the Iran de-escalation cut the bid |
| BC8.AU | -15.11% | Junior gold hit hardest as bullion fell 2.27% on the week |
| EOS.AU | -14.95% | Defence-tech profit-taking as Middle East tensions eased |
Friday US session
- S&P 500: 7,431.46 (+0.50%)
- Nasdaq: 25,888.8 (+0.31%)
- Dow: 51,202.3 (+0.70%)
- VIX: 17.68 (-9.05% on Friday)
Wall Street closed the week green, with the S&P 500 up 0.65% over the five sessions and the Dow up 0.66%, as the same Iran de-escalation that hit ASX miners eased the inflation worry that had built mid-week. Gold rebounded 3.03% on Friday to US$4,238.80 an ounce but still finished the week down 2.27%, having given back its safe-haven bid mid-week. Copper bucked the commodity weakness, up 2.90% on the week to US$6.445 a pound. The AUD/USD ended at 0.7049, down 1.17% on the week, which lifts the AUD value of US-dollar revenue for offshore earners such as CSL.AU and the building-products names into the new week.
Macro themes that played out
The week's defining tension was a hot US headline inflation print colliding with a rallying market. US May CPI, released on 10 June, showed headline inflation at 4.2% year on year, the highest reading since April 2023, driven by shelter at 3.4% and transport services at 4.1%. The market looked through it for two reasons: core CPI came in at 2.9% year on year, matching forecasts with no upside surprise, and the late-week oil collapse points to a cooler headline ahead. With Brent down 6.19% on the week, the disinflationary read from energy outweighed the backward-looking 4.2% print.
The domestic backdrop stayed restrictive. The RBA cash rate sits at 4.35% after three hikes this year, so the ASX rallied 2% against a central bank still leaning the other way. That is the set-up the market carries into the new week: a hot headline number, an easing oil price, and two central-bank decisions that will test whether the de-escalation rally holds.
Week ahead, Mon to Fri (AEST)
- Mon 15 Jun (overnight US): Empire State manufacturing, US industrial production for May, and the NAHB housing market index for June.
- Tue 16 Jun, 2:30pm: RBA cash rate decision, widely expected to hold at 4.35%. The Bank of Japan also decides, with a hike to 1% in play.
- Wed 17 Jun (overnight US): US retail sales for May, ahead of the FOMC decision.
- Thu 18 Jun, early AEST: FOMC rate decision and Summary of Economic Projections, Kevin Warsh's first meeting as chair (sworn in 22 May), expected to hold at 3.50% to 3.75%. US jobless claims, the Philadelphia Fed index, plus Bank of England and SNB decisions follow.
- Fri 19 Jun: Wall Street closed for the Juneteenth holiday; China out for the Dragon Boat Festival; UK retail sales due.
No Australian jobs data lands next week. The ABS May Labour Force report is scheduled for 25 June, so the RBA decision is the only domestic catalyst on the diary.
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