ASX 200 rises 0.64% to 8,716.6 as tech and retail rally; lithium and uranium slide

ASX 200 close: 8,716.6 (+0.64%) Breadth: 150 advancers / 64 decliners Sentiment: bullish

The S&P/ASX 200 closed at 8,716.6 on 9 October 2026, up 55.7 points or 0.64%, as information technology (+2.23%) and consumer discretionary (+2.16%) led nine of 11 sectors higher after the US 10-year yield fell 5 bp to 5.23% overnight. WTC.AU rose 4.25% and XRO.AU 3.50% even though the Nasdaq lost 1.25% on a Financial Times report about OpenAI revenue. Lithium and uranium names fell: PLS.AU -5.41% as Chinese lithium carbonate futures dropped 4.0% at the open, and BOE.AU -9.93% after a Goldman Sachs downgrade to Sell.

What moved the index

The ASX 200 gained about 64 bps on 9 October 2026; four groups of rate-sensitive and growth sectors added about 60 bps of it.

• Financials: the sector index rose 0.49%, worth about +16 bps. CBA.AU +0.79% to $149.29 and MQG.AU +0.64% outweighed NAB.AU (-0.32%).
• Tech and consumer discretionary: IT +2.23% (WTC.AU +4.25%, XRO.AU +3.50%) and discretionary +2.16% (LOV.AU +5.04%, TLC.AU +4.64%), worth about +20 bps. Market Index put the recent pullback in tech, discretionary and real estate at 10% to 15%.
• Property and utilities: A-REITs +1.88% (GMG.AU +3.19% to $27.16) and utilities +1.75%, worth about +14 bps as the US 10-year eased to 5.23% from a 5.36% intraday high, its highest since 2002, after a 30-year Treasury auction.
• Health care: the sector rose 1.14%, worth about +10 bps, with CSL.AU +1.31% to $183.84.

Together these four account for about 60 bps of the 64 bps move; staples (+1.25%) and industrials (+0.87%) supply the residual, net of communication services (-0.56%) and materials (-0.03%), with 150 advancers against 64 decliners.

Session highlights

• 8,688.3 to 8,716.6 was the session range on Yahoo's intraday data, and the index closed at its high.
• 0.40% was the weekly gain, from 8,682.1 on 2 October, after a 0.77% fall on Thursday.
• TLS.AU fell 1.85% to $4.77 after SpaceX agreed to buy a US 800 MHz spectrum portfolio for a Starlink mobile service; US carriers fell as much as 8% after hours (Bloomberg).
• PLS.AU -5.41% and CXO.AU -7.55% after Chinese lithium carbonate futures fell 4.0% to 116,700 yuan a tonne, their lowest since December 2025, on China's return from the National Day holiday (Market Index).
• PDN.AU -3.67% and NXG.AU -3.84% followed US uranium stocks after the Global X Uranium ETF fell 3.43% overnight.

Sector scorecard

• Best: Information Technology (+2.23%)
• Worst: Communication Services (-0.56%)
• Dispersion (best minus worst): 2.79 pts
• Materials had the widest internal spread: GMD.AU +3.95% with gold futures up 1.46%, against PLS.AU -5.41% and FMG.AU -2.85%.
• The All Ords Gold index rose 1.87%; materials closed flat at -0.03%.

Top movers

Notable announcements

• Firmus: withdrew its ASX listing application after investors balked at the price (ABC). MGH.AU, which owns 3.2% of Firmus, resumed trading after a halt, said Firmus work orders would be completed by the end of 2027 (AFR), and closed 6.65% lower at $4.63.
• BMN.AU: completed its share purchase plan and applied for quotation of the new shares.
• FMG.AU (-2.85% to $15.34): is weighing a 3 billion yuan panda bond debut, with China's 10-year yield at 1.68% against 5.23% for US Treasuries (Market Index).

At the AU close (16:15 AEDT)

Next 24h catalysts (AEDT)

• Sat 01:00: University of Michigan consumer sentiment, preliminary October reading.
• Sat 07:00: Wall Street Friday close, after the S&P 500 finished Thursday at 7,765.36.
• Mon 10:00: ASX open, after the ASX 200 closed the week at 8,716.6.

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