ASX 200 climbs 1.40% to 9,145.8 as financials close at an all-time high
ASX 200 close: 9,145.8 (+1.40%) Breadth: 158 advancers / 36 decliners Sentiment: bullish
The S&P/ASX 200 closed at 9,145.8 on 4 August 2026, up 126.5 points or 1.40%, with the financials sector finishing at an all-time high and every sector except utilities gaining. DroneShield (DRO.AU) rose 14.60% to $2.08 and Electro Optic Systems (EOS.AU) 8.93%, neither on an announcement to the market. Brent crude fell close to 8% overnight to US$83.77 after President Trump called off a planned strike on Iran, and buyers returned to the banks and healthcare names that had lagged through that conflict.
What moved the index
- Financials, +1.93%: about 66 bps of the 140 bps index move. Macquarie (MQG.AU) added 3.13% to $263.19, National Australia Bank (NAB.AU) 3.00%, ANZ (ANZ.AU) 2.36%, Westpac (WBC.AU) 1.70% and Commonwealth Bank (CBA.AU) 1.59%. The sector index closed at 10,127.0, an all-time high.
- Health care, +2.36%: about 21 bps. CSL (CSL.AU) rose 3.64% to $128.83, lifting a sector that is still down 18% so far in 2026.
- Materials, +1.08%: about 21 bps. Sandfire (SFR.AU) rose 3.92% with copper at US$6.612/lb (+1.09%), within roughly 1.5% of its 2 June record. Pilbara Minerals (PLS.AU) gained 4.90% and Lynas (LYC.AU) 6.55%. BHP (BHP.AU) fell 0.33% with iron ore near a 13-month low of US$93.90/t.
- Information technology, +3.93%: about 14 bps. Megaport (MP1.AU) rose 5.74%, SiteMinder (SDR.AU) 5.06% and Pro Medicus (PME.AU) 4.94%, tracking the Nasdaq's 2.13% close and Palantir's second-quarter revenue of US$1.94bn against US$1.8bn consensus.
Together those four account for about 122 bps of the 140 bps index move. The residual 18 bps came from real estate (+1.39%), communication services (+1.63%) and industrials (+1.04%), less utilities at -0.42%, which is consistent with breadth of 158 advancers against 36 decliners.
Session highlights
- 9,032.2 at the open was the session low; 9,145.8 at the close was the high. The index reached +1.21% by 11:45 AEST and held that level for the rest of the day.
- 158 of the 202 names in the ASX 200 sweep advanced, 36 fell and 8 finished unchanged.
- -0.42% for utilities was the only negative sector close, with consumer staples at +0.15% and consumer discretionary at +0.21% just above it.
- ^AXVI, the AU volatility index, rose 5.91% to 11.55, which is a low absolute reading, on the day four companies opened August reporting season.
- 5.12% was the fall in South Korea's Kospi on Monday; it recovered 1.62% to 6,358.95 during the Australian session.
Sector scorecard
- Best: Information technology (+3.93%)
- Worst: Utilities (-0.42%)
- Dispersion (best minus worst): 4.35 pts
- Materials held the widest internal spread: Lynas (LYC.AU) +6.55% and Pilbara Minerals (PLS.AU) +4.90% against BHP (BHP.AU) -0.33% and Firefly Metals (FFM.AU) -8.87%.
Top movers
| Ticker | Move | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| DRO.AU | +14.60% | Unannounced. EOS.AU rose 8.93% alongside it. |
| 360.AU | +11.38% | Macquarie held overweight into the 11 August first-half result. |
| ACE.AU | +11.00% | Kentucky work-zone master agreement worth up to US$20m. |
| EQR.AU | +9.62% | Unannounced. Tungsten producer; Forrest took 16.8% in July. |
| PYC.AU | +9.62% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven. |
| FFM.AU | -8.87% | Moelis cut to Hold, target from $2.30 to $1.90. |
| CCP.AU | -6.98% | FY27 ledger buying guided to $200-280m against $309m consensus. |
| WEB.AU | -3.70% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven. |
| VEA.AU | -3.58% | Trump pressed refiners on pump prices; ALD.AU fell 2.93%. |
| TLC.AU | -3.57% | No company release; FY26 result due 19 August. |
Notable announcements
- Acusensus (ACE.AU) won a Kentucky master agreement worth up to US$20m, its third concurrent statewide US work-zone program, on an initial order near US$2.1m.
- Maas Group (MGH.AU) took an $855m electrical order from Firmus and lifted FY26 underlying EBITDA guidance to $300-310m. The stock closed 8.06% higher.
- Credit Corp (CCP.AU) reported FY26 net profit of $105.5m against $104.3m consensus, then guided FY27 ledger purchases to $200-280m against $309m consensus. Shares fell 6.98%.
- Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT (CQE.AU) lifted operating earnings per unit 13.1% to 17.3c, below the 18.0c consensus, while statutory net profit of $90.5m beat $64.1m. Units closed 8.63% higher.
- Qantas (QAN.AU) agreed to sell its 33.32% Jetstar Japan holding for about $74.4m, booking an estimated $115m gain outside underlying earnings, mostly in FY27. Shares eased 0.29%.
After the AU close (17:30 AEST)
| Asset | Level | Change | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 futures | 7,645.25 | +0.22% | Cash index closed 1.48% higher, within 0.1% of its record |
| Nasdaq 100 futures | 29,103.75 | +0.73% | Follows a 2.13% Nasdaq session |
| Nikkei 225 | 63,957.53 | +0.32% | Closed |
| Hang Seng | 25,872.59 | -0.53% | Still trading |
| Kospi | 6,358.95 | +1.62% | Rebound from Monday's 5.12% fall |
| Brent | US$84.91 | +1.36% | Steadied after Monday's near 8% slide |
| Gold | US$4,119.30/oz | +0.70% | Citi held its US$4,500 three-month target |
| Copper | US$6.612/lb | +1.09% | Within about 1.5% of the 2 June record |
| AUD/USD | 0.7021 | +0.27% | Recovered Monday's 0.36% fall |
| US VIX | 15.73 | -0.82% | Held below 16 through the Australian session |
Next 24h catalysts (AEST)
- Wed 10:00: ASX open. S&P 500 futures at 7,645.25 (+0.22%) and Nasdaq 100 futures at 29,103.75 (+0.73%) at the time of writing.
- Wed: Argo Investments (ARG.AU) FY26 result, and Light & Wonder (LNW.AU) first half on US$219.6m consensus net profit.
- Thu 00:00: US ISM services for July. The June reading was 54.0, and Monday's manufacturing print of 55.6 was a four-year high.
- Thu: REA Group (REA.AU) FY26 on $633.9m consensus net profit, Beach Energy (BPT.AU) FY26 on $330.8m, AMP (AMP.AU) first half, News Corp (NWS.AU) FY26.
- Fri: ResMed (RMD.AU) FY26 on US$1,600.2m consensus net profit.
- Tue 11 Aug: Life360 (360.AU) first-half result.
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