ASX 200 slips to 9,005.9 as BHP outweighs a two-to-one advance

ASX 200 close: 9,005.9 (-0.16%) Breadth: 177 advancers / 92 decliners Sentiment: mixed

The S&P/ASX 200 closed at 9,005.9 on Friday 4 September 2026, down 14.2 points or 0.16%, after a 2.40% fall in BHP.AU to $62.25 took about 19 basis points off an index that shed 16. Nine Entertainment NEC.AU dropped 8.50% to $0.915, the weakest performance in the index, after Bruce Gordon's Birketu vehicle disclosed before the open that it had lifted its voting power to 25.94%. Advancers beat decliners 177 to 92 and six of the 11 sectors closed higher, leaving the fall concentrated in the largest names.

What moved the index

• BHP.AU fell 2.40% to $62.25, worth about 19 basis points at roughly 8% of the index, more than the 16 basis point fall in the index itself. It opened at its session high of $63.72 and closed near its low of $61.97, extending a retreat from the record $68.77 set on 26 August to 9.5%. Iron ore rose 1.74% to US$99.42 a tonne on 3 September and copper added 1.28%, so the selling did not come from the underlying commodity.
• ALD.AU and VEA.AU both traded ex-dividend, which accounts for most of the 1.22% fall in energy and about 5 basis points of index drag. ALD.AU went ex a $1.85 dividend and fell $2.60 to $40.65, leaving about 75 cents of actual selling. VEA.AU went ex 7.73 cents and fell 11 cents to $2.90. APE.AU went ex 25 cents and closed at $21.12.
• The Nasdaq's 1.40% rise overnight carried technology up 1.00% and telcos 0.98%, together about 8 basis points of offset. The local tech index had fallen 6.1% across the previous four sessions. WTC.AU added 2.53% to $37.69, MP1.AU 4.11% to $16.99 and 360.AU 4.11% to $20.75.
• 21% of the index contributed almost nothing. The big four banks closed with a median move of -0.08%: CBA.AU down 0.10% to $160.42, NAB.AU down 0.05% to $39.25, ANZ.AU down 0.16% to $37.95 and WBC.AU up 0.14% to $34.96. NAB, Deutsche Bank and UBS all now forecast an RBA increase to 4.60% on 29 September.

Materials, energy and utilities together cost about 21 basis points against about 12 basis points from technology, telcos and discretionary. The remaining 7 basis points sit in financials and health care, where CSL.AU fell 0.57% to $174.50 and RMD.AU 1.28% to $31.68. The banks supplied no offset, which is why a 177 to 92 advance ratio still produced a lower close.

Session highlights

The S&P/ASX 200 traded between 8,997.5 and 9,070.2 on 4 September 2026, opened at 9,020.1 and surrendered 64.3 points from its session high.

• 9,070.2 at the high put the index up 0.56%, tracking the Wall Street lead of 1.06% on the S&P 500 and 1.40% on the Nasdaq. That lead was gone by the close.
• The index has now lost 0.95% for the week, measured from 9,092.30 on 28 August, a third consecutive weekly decline.
• The All Ords Gold Index rose 1.09% and the Small Ordinaries 0.90%, both ahead of the ASX 200. Spot gold eased 0.22% to US$4,463 an ounce during the local session after rising 1.97% overnight.
• 15 of 19 large-cap gold miners rose, median +1.47%. OBM.AU gained 5.65% to $1.59, PNR.AU 3.21% and BGL.AU 3.34%, while GMD.AU fell 1.44% and CMM.AU 0.55%.
• Lithium ran the other way. PLS.AU fell 2.12% to $5.09, MIN.AU 1.41% to $62.44, IGO.AU 1.31% to $8.30 and CXO.AU 1.45%, against LTR.AU up 2.94%.
• AUD/USD held 0.7206, up 0.08%, after touching a four-month high of 0.7215.

Sector scorecard

• Best: Information Technology (+1.00%)
• Worst: Energy (-1.22%)
• Dispersion (best minus worst): 2.22 points
• Six of the 11 sectors closed higher. Energy carried the widest internal split: PDN.AU rose 3.91% and YAL.AU 0.99% while ALD.AU and VEA.AU traded ex-dividend, 5 of the 14 large-cap energy names higher against 8 lower.

Top movers

Notable announcements

• Birketu Pty Ltd told NEC.AU at 8:35am that the WIN Group had bought 47.0 million shares on market since 15 April, taking its economic interest from 28.22% to 31.18% and its voting power from 22.98% to 25.94%. A holder above 25% can block a scheme of arrangement, which requires 75% approval. NEC.AU turned over 9.78 million shares against a 5.26 million average.
• ALD.AU paid a $1.85 dividend and VEA.AU 7.73 cents, both with a 30 September payment date.
• Australian 10-year yields sit near 5.14% after reaching a 15-year high of 5.25% on Wednesday, a rise of about 30 basis points over the month.

At the AU close (16:15 AEST)

The ASX 200 was the weakest of the regional markets, closing lower while the Nikkei, Hang Seng and KOSPI each added more than 1.2%.

Next 24h catalysts (AEST)

• Fri 22:30 US non-farm payrolls for August, consensus about 50,000 to 58,000 with unemployment at 4.1%, following July's fall of 23,000 and downward revisions of 66,000 to May and 37,000 to June.
• Mon 10:00 ASX open, the first local pricing of the payrolls print.
• Tue 29 Sep RBA cash rate decision, with NAB, Deutsche Bank and UBS forecasting an increase to 4.60%.

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