ASX 200 closes 0.78% lower at 8,967.7 as a hawkish Fed hold lifts the US 30-year yield to a 19-year high

ASX 200 close: 8,967.7 (-0.78%) Breadth: 48 advancers / 174 decliners across the 234-stock sweep Sentiment: bearish

The S&P/ASX 200 closed at 8,967.7 on 30 July 2026, down 70.9 points or 0.78%, after the Federal Reserve held rates at 3.50% to 3.75% in a 9 to 3 vote and the US 30-year Treasury yield settled at a 19-year high of 5.143%. Gold miners led the fall, with the All Ordinaries Gold sub-index down 3.65% as bullion faded from an overnight spike of US$4,166.80/oz to US$4,090.50 by the 16:00 AEST close. DMP.AU rose 9.08% to $19.59 on its FY26 earnings update, the largest single-name gain, while 174 of the 234 stocks swept closed lower.

What moved the index

• Materials, down 1.59%: worth about 31 bps of the 78 bps fall on a 19.5% index weight, the largest single contribution. The All Ordinaries Gold sub-index fell 3.65%, the worst of any grouping on the board: NST.AU -3.29%, EVN.AU -3.07%, RRL.AU -4.68%, CMM.AU -4.98%. BHP.AU lost 1.71% and FMG.AU 1.15%, with iron ore futures down 1.34% to US$96.80 in Asian trade. RIO.AU +1.83% and MIN.AU +3.90% were the two offsets.
• Financials, down 0.37%: a small percentage move on a 34% weight still cost about 13 bps. MQG.AU fell 1.94% as the long end sold off. NAB.AU rose 0.85% on a June quarter update showing higher business lending balances and fewer non-performing loans, and WBC.AU added 0.55%.
• Consumer discretionary, down 1.39%: about 10 bps, one session after the sector hit a seven-month high. WES.AU fell 1.53%, ALL.AU 1.12%, TPW.AU 5.83%. DMP.AU ran the other way at +9.08%.
• Industrials (-0.84%) and A-REITs (-0.99%): about 12 bps between them on a combined 13% weight, the two most duration-sensitive parts of the index.
• Information technology, up 0.91%: one of only two sectors to close higher, adding about 4 bps. WTC.AU rose 6.67%, XRO.AU 1.43%, TNE.AU 1.11%. The overnight selling hit chipmakers, where 20 major semiconductor names have shed a combined US$1.3tn since Friday's close. Local software carries no chip exposure.

Together those account for roughly 62 bps of the 78 bps fall. The remaining 16 bps came from the rest of the market rather than any single name: health care fell 0.41%, communication services 0.57%, consumer staples 0.64% and utilities 0.85%, with only energy (+0.32%) joining technology on the positive side.

Session highlights

• DMP.AU +9.08% to $19.59: FY26 preliminary underlying NPAT of $118m to $122m and free cash flow near $164m, against $259m of write-downs (about $246m non-cash, mostly France and Taiwan) and $60m to $70m of annualised cost savings.
• MIN.AU +3.90% to $57.79 after a Q4 update that met or beat FY26 guidance in every segment. Goldman Sachs moved to Neutral from Sell and lifted its target to $60.00 from $58.00.
• PLS.AU +2.68% to $4.21 on a June quarter in line on production, costs and pricing, with cash up 57% quarter-on-quarter to $2.29bn and FY27 guidance of up to 1,100kt.
• LTR.AU -10.86% to $0.985 despite a record $561m cash balance and $137m of net quarterly cash flow. A realised price of US$1,880/dmt SC6 and higher operating costs missed expectations; Bell Potter cut its target to $1.90 from $2.90.
• The AU VIX rose 2.59% to 11.68 while the US VIX fell 4.21% to 19.79. Local hedging demand rose on the day the offshore measure eased.

Sector scorecard

• Best: information technology (+0.91%)
• Worst: materials (-1.59%)
• Dispersion (best minus worst): 2.50 pts
• Materials held the widest internal spread: MIN.AU +3.90% and RIO.AU +1.83% against RSG.AU -7.22% and WAF.AU -6.57%, an 11.1 point gap inside one sector.

Top movers

Notable announcements

• Champion Iron CIA.AU posted Q1 FY27 production up 12% to 3.9M wmt and EBITDA of $33m, with shipment timing on the direct-reduction pellet feed commissioning pushing revenue into later quarters.
• Ampol flagged 1H26 RCOP EBITDA near $1,600m against $649m a year earlier, with the 2Q Lytton refiner margin at US$30.93/bbl versus US$8.71/bbl.
• Resolute Mining RSG.AU poured 45,192 oz in the June quarter at a group AISC of US$2,484/oz and a realised US$4,526/oz, lifting net cash to US$317m. The shares still fell 7.22%.
• Perseus Mining PRU.AU produced 109.0koz against 111.4koz expected, a 2% miss, and sold 114.6koz at an average US$4,086/oz. PRU.AU fell 1.82%.
• Private sector house approvals rose 0.4% to 10,631, a sixth straight month above 10,000 and 15.8% higher than a year ago.

At the AU close (16:15 AEST)

Next 24h catalysts (AEST)

• Thu 22:30 US Q2 advance GDP and June core PCE, the first inflation print after the split Fed vote
• Fri 06:00 Apple AAPL.US and Amazon AMZN.US report after the US close, following Microsoft's 43% ex-FX Azure growth and Meta's EPS miss on legal charges
• Fri 11:30 AU Q2 PPI, consensus 0.3% quarter-on-quarter against a prior 0.4%, plus June private sector credit (prior 0.7% month-on-month)
• Fri 22:30 US Q2 employment cost index, the quarter's wage-growth reading
• Mon 03 Aug RBA commodity index for July, prior 16.9% year-on-year

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