ASX 200 reverses to close 0.60% higher at 8,947.8 after Bullock speech
ASX 200 close: 8,947.8 (+0.60%) Breadth: 113 advancers / 91 decliners Sentiment: bullish
The S&P/ASX 200 closed at 8,947.8 on 28 July 2026, up 53.8 points or 0.60%, after RBA governor Michele Bullock's 1:49pm speech pushed the Australian two-year yield down 6 basis points to 4.61% and turned a 0.10% loss into a session-high close. Viva Energy VEA.AU led the index with an 8.61% rise to $2.650 after guiding first-half EBITDA to $770m to $780m against $708m consensus, a 9% beat at the midpoint. The local gain ran against the region, where Korea's KOSPI fell 10.84% and Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 3.95% in a semiconductor selloff the Australian index carries almost no exposure to.
What moved the index
- Financials, up 0.92%: the heaviest weight at about 34% of the index, contributing 31 bps of the 60 bps move. CBA.AU rose 1.54% to $178.780, WBC.AU 0.90%, ANZ.AU 0.89% and NAB.AU 0.66%, all tracking the two-year yield down to 4.61%.
- Materials, down 1.36%: the offset, costing the index about 26 bps on a weight near 19%. RIO.AU fell 2.48% to $159.530 and BHP.AU 1.21%. Behind them sat the All Ordinaries Gold Index at minus 1.51% and Chinese lithium futures at 142,700 yuan a tonne, down 2.3%.
- Health Care, up 2.26%: 20 bps, on a 9% weight. CSL.AU added 2.69% to $119.520, COH.AU 4.70%, RMD.AU 3.39% and SHL.AU 2.85%.
- Consumer Discretionary, up 2.68%: 19 bps from a 7% weight, and the day's strongest sector. LOV.AU gained 6.73%, LNW.AU 6.53%, APE.AU 4.63% and WES.AU 2.08%.
These four net to about 44 bps of the 60 bps move. The residual 16 bps came from the six other sectors that finished higher, led by Communication Services at 2.55% and Energy at 1.60%. Utilities, down 0.06%, was the only sector besides Materials to close in the red.
Session highlights
- 8,858.5 marked the intraday low before the index closed at 8,947.8, its session high, an 89.3 point range.
- 4.61% on the Australian two-year yield, down 6 basis points, after Bullock told the Anika Foundation that headline inflation ran at 4% in May against a 2% to 3% target, while housing and the labour market had both eased more than the bank expected.
- VEA.AU +8.61%: Geelong refining margin of US$21.1 a barrel against US$8.2 a year earlier, with net debt down to about $1,700m from $2,100m at 31 December.
- DRO.AU -13.22%: FY26 revenue guidance of $250m to $270m landed 21% below the $328.2m consensus at the midpoint, with first-half gross margin at 60% against 65% a year ago.
- 19.01 on the US VIX, up 1.82%, while the AU VIX fell 1.67% to 11.162.
Sector scorecard
- Best: Consumer Discretionary (+2.68%)
- Worst: Materials (-1.36%)
- Dispersion (best minus worst): 4.04 pts
- Materials held the widest internal spread of any sector: ILU.AU rose 5.15% and IGO.AU 3.56% on quarterly beats, while SFR.AU fell 4.21% and MIN.AU 2.93%.
Top movers
| Ticker | Move | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| VEA.AU | +8.61% | 1H26 EBITDA guidance $770m to $780m, 9% above consensus |
| WTC.AU | +8.06% | Second straight session of gains, no announcement lodged |
| SEK.AU | +6.84% | Communication Services rose 2.55%; nothing company specific |
| LOV.AU | +6.73% | Rate-sensitive discretionary bid after the 1:49pm speech |
| LNW.AU | +6.53% | Morgan Stanley listed it most preferred into July updates |
| DRO.AU | -13.22% | FY26 revenue guidance 21% below consensus at the midpoint |
| SLX.AU | -8.35% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven |
| MP1.AU | -5.85% | No filing, against Info Tech closing 1.20% higher |
| ELV.AU | -5.44% | Realised spodumene of US$921/dmt as a legacy contract closed out |
| ALK.AU | -5.09% | All Ordinaries Gold Index fell 1.51% |
Notable announcements
- ILU.AU +5.15%: Q2 zircon, rutile and synthetic rutile production of 58.0kt beat the 53.6kt consensus by 8% and sales of 157.4kt beat by 58%, with the Q3 contracted zircon price set to step up US$215 a tonne.
- IGO.AU +3.56%: Q4 Greenbushes spodumene production of 387kt beat consensus by 7% at a realised US$2,286 a tonne, up from US$1,668 in Q3, lifting net cash to $386.5m.
- WHC.AU -4.55%: Q4 saleable coal of 8.06Mt missed the 8.51Mt consensus by 5% and Narrabri produced 0.63Mt against 1.17Mt expected, though FY26 production and sales finished at the top of guidance.
- WEB.AU +17.08%: the ASX 300 travel group announced a $90m on-market buy-back running from 12 August 2026 and guided 1H27 EBITDA to $80m to $86m, with WebBeds TTV margin at about 6.7% from 6.5%.
- ORG.AU -0.09%: Origin said an intruder accessed the information of about 900,000 current and former customers, and police have opened a criminal investigation.
- GMD.AU -1.14%: Q4 gold production of 70.8koz came at an all-in sustaining cost of $2,797 an ounce against $2,646 consensus, alongside record FY26 output of 285,402oz.
At the AU close
| Asset | Level | Change | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| KOSPI | 6,023.66 | -10.84% | Chip selloff tripped a trading suspension |
| Nikkei 225 | 62,364.92 | -3.95% | Semiconductor names led the fall |
| S&P 500 futures | 7,437.50 | -0.14% | Cash index closed 0.02% higher overnight |
| Nasdaq 100 futures | 27,972.25 | -0.77% | NVDA.US fell 5% overnight on a record CDS spike |
| US 10-year yield | 4.641% | -0.81% | Eased off an 18-month high |
| Brent | US$86.26 | -2.38% | Third day of paused US strikes on Iran |
| Gold | US$4,051.60/oz | -0.62% | |
| AUD/USD | 0.6975 | -0.24% |
Next 24h catalysts (AEST)
- Wed 29 Jul 09:00: SPI open, tracking US futures that were lower at the AU close
- Wed 29 Jul 11:30: ABS Consumer Price Index for June, the first inflation print since Bullock flagged the 4% May headline rate
- Wed 29 Jul: Meta and Amazon capital expenditure updates land in US reporting, after the Nvidia financing reports that drove the Asian chip selloff
- Thu 30 Jul 04:00: US Federal Reserve rate decision
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