ASX 200 ends the week down 0.28% as Brent tops US$100 and pulls energy and tech apart
ASX 200 week close: 8,772.3 (-0.28%) S&P 500 Friday close: 7,411.98 (+0.05%) Sentiment: mixed
The S&P/ASX 200 closed at 8,772.3 on Friday 24 July 2026, down 0.28% across the week from 8,796.7, as a Red Sea supply shock lifted Brent crude 9.85% to US$96.78 and drove energy and technology in opposite directions. Karoon Energy KAR.AU gained 19.33% on the week, the largest move among ASX energy names, and added 10.84% on Friday alone. US 10-year yields rose 13.8 basis points to 4.679% over the same five sessions, and the long-duration sectors repriced with them: technology fell 6.49% and healthcare 5.13%.
The week on the ASX
Brent traded above US$100 a barrel midweek for the first time since May, after attacks on shipping in the Red Sea forced tankers onto longer routes around Africa. Crude gave back 3.88% on Friday to settle at US$96.78, still 9.85% above the prior Friday's US$88.10. West Texas Intermediate tracked it, up 8.27% to US$89.31.
The index spent three sessions higher and gave all of it back on Friday, falling 66.7 points or 0.75%. The S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology index dropped 4.06% in that single session. The All Ordinaries finished the week at 8,941.5, down 0.42%, and the ASX 200 VIX closed at 11.69 after a 6.88% jump on Friday.
Financials and materials, the two heaviest sectors on the exchange, held the weekly loss to 28 basis points. All four major banks rose: Westpac WBC.AU 1.59%, National Australia Bank NAB.AU 1.36%, Commonwealth Bank CBA.AU 1.31% and ANZ ANZ.AU 1.14%. BHP BHP.AU added 2.28% and Santos STO.AU 3.78%.
Sector scorecard (5-day)
Cap-weighted five-day moves across 341 ASX-listed names above A$300m market capitalisation:
- Best: Energy +6.04%, with 16 of 17 names higher
- Worst: Technology -6.49%, with 17 of 23 names lower
- Dispersion (best minus worst): 12.53 points
- Basic Materials +1.68% (63 up, 24 down) and Financial Services +0.55% (22 up, 32 down) offset the drag from Healthcare -5.13%, Consumer Cyclical -4.31% and Communication Services -3.91%
- Real Estate -1.72%, with only 3 of 31 names higher, the narrowest breadth of any sector
Top movers, week ending 24 July 2026
| Ticker | Week | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| BNZ.AU | +38.72% | Unannounced. Four straight higher closes from 21 July. |
| GDG.AU | +21.91% | FY26 funds under management $46.4bn, up 36%, reported 23 July. |
| KAR.AU | +19.33% | High Brent sensitivity; crude rose 9.85% on the week. |
| EQR.AU | +18.18% | Andrew Forrest's Wonongarra bought Oaktree's 16.8% stake, reported 19 July. |
| S32.AU | +15.13% | June quarter beat FY26 guidance; sales volumes up 15%. |
| ZIP.AU | -15.44% | Five consecutive lower closes; nothing lodged with the ASX. |
| WTC.AU | -14.11% | Tech selling; the ASX tech index fell 4.06% on Friday alone. |
| CNI.AU | -13.65% | Worst ASX 200 name on Friday at -7.70%; no announcement lodged. |
| EIQ.AU | -12.33% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven. |
| HLI.AU | -11.87% | Macquarie research note on a softening property market. |
Friday US session
- S&P 500: 7,411.98 (+0.05%)
- Nasdaq: 24,975.82 (-0.64%)
- Dow: 51,947.25 (+0.46%)
- VIX: 18.58 (-0.64%)
Apple AAPL.US rose 3.53% to US$333.02 and held the S&P 500 at a flat close while the rest of the largest technology names fell: Tesla TSLA.US 2.08%, Meta META.US 1.80%, Nvidia NVDA.US 0.92% and Amazon AMZN.US 0.66%. The technology sector fund XLK.US lost 1.44% against energy XLE.US up 0.40%. Across the full week the Nasdaq shed 2.13%, the S&P 500 0.61% and the Dow 0.38%.
The Australian dollar ended at US$0.6983, down 0.23% for the week after a 0.22% Friday gain. Gold closed at US$4,055.70 an ounce, up 1.07% over the five sessions, and copper added 1.92% to US$6.3395 a pound.
Macro themes that played out
Brent's 9.85% weekly gain reset inflation expectations, and the US bond market followed. The 10-year yield rose from 4.541% to 4.679%, the 5-year added 15.3 basis points to 4.426% and the 30-year 9.8 basis points to 5.162%. The US dollar index gained 0.715 points to 101.465.
Only 3 of 31 real estate names finished the week higher, the narrowest breadth of any sector and the one most exposed to the long end. Technology and healthcare lost 6.49% and 5.13%. CSL CSL.AU fell 7.38%, the single largest drag among ASX 20 names, and WiseTech Global WTC.AU 14.11%.
Australian resource quarterlies landed through the week. South32 S32.AU exceeded FY26 group production guidance with quarterly sales volumes up 15%, and confirmed the sale of its aluminium business to Alcoa for up to US$5.6bn. Paladin Energy PDN.AU produced 1.23 million pounds of U3O8 at Langer Heinrich in the June quarter and 4.82 million pounds across FY26, at the upper end of guidance, with FY27 guidance of 5.1 to 5.6 million pounds. Paladin closed the week up 14.96%, Yancoal YAL.AU 12.87% and Woodside WDS.AU 6.27%.
Week ahead, Mon to Fri (AEST)
- Mon 27 Jul: no scheduled Australian data. June-quarter activities reports continue ahead of the 31 July lodgement deadline.
- Tue 28 Jul: the FOMC begins its two-day meeting in Washington.
- Wed 29 Jul, 11:30: ABS June-quarter Consumer Price Index, the last full quarterly inflation reading before the RBA's next decision.
- Thu 30 Jul, 04:00: FOMC rate decision, with the Chair's press conference at 04:30.
- Thu 30 Jul, 11:30: ABS Trade Price Indexes for the June quarter, covering import and export prices.
- Thu 30 Jul, 22:30: US second-quarter GDP, advance estimate.
- Fri 31 Jul: deadline for June-quarter activities reports under the ASX listing rules.
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