ASX 200 rises 0.76% to 8,783.2 as banks and BHP lead; telcos fall on SpaceX
ASX 200 close: 8,783.2 (+0.76%) Breadth: 101 advancers / 109 decliners Sentiment: bullish
The S&P/ASX 200 closed at 8,783.2 on 12 October 2026, up 66.6 points or 0.76%, as financials (+1.56%) and materials (+1.52%) rose after the Global X Copper Miners ETF gained 4.29% on Friday, while seven of 11 sectors fell. MGH.AU dropped 15.12% to $3.93, adding to Friday's 6.65% fall after Firmus withdrew its ASX listing application. TPG.AU lost 4.90% and TLS.AU 2.52% after SpaceX agreed to buy US low-band spectrum for a Starlink direct-to-phone service, a deal that cut US carriers by 9% to 13% on Friday.
What moved the index
The ASX 200 gained about 76 bps on 12 October 2026; banks and miners added about 82 bps, and property and telcos took back about 18 bps.
- Financials: the sector index rose 1.56%, worth about +50 bps. WBC.AU +2.70% to $34.63, NAB.AU +2.26%, ANZ.AU +1.96% and CBA.AU +1.15% to $151.00, after XLF.US gained 0.92% on Friday. Market Index said the sector had been close to an 18-month low before turning higher.
- Materials: the sector rose 1.52%, worth about +32 bps. BHP.AU +2.45% to $62.43 and SFR.AU +3.54% followed Friday's 2.5% rise in copper to US$6.76/lb (Market Index); copper futures added 0.51% today to US$6.73/lb, within 2% of the 22 September record close.
- A-REITs: the property index fell 1.39%, worth about -10 bps, with GMG.AU -1.91% to $26.64 after a four-day winning streak.
- Communication services: the sector fell 1.94%, worth about -8 bps, on the SpaceX spectrum deal.
Together these four account for about 64 bps of the 76 bps move; health care (+0.75%) and IT (+0.85%) supply most of the residual, net of staples (-0.56%) and discretionary (-0.42%), with 101 advancers against 109 decliners.
Session highlights
- 8,735.3 to 8,791.9 was the session range on Yahoo's intraday data; the index closed 8.7 points below its high.
- 1.41% is the two-session gain from the 8,660.9 close on 8 October. Market Index put the index about 0.25% below its 200-day moving average.
- 101 advancers and 109 decliners in the 224-name sweep. The All Ords rose 0.67%, behind the ASX 200, and Market Index reported the Small Ords down 0.1% and the Emerging Companies index down 0.7%.
- ZIP.AU +5.56% and MP1.AU +4.79% led tech after the iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF rose 2.8% on Friday; XRO.AU added 2.81% to $61.49. The IT index closed +0.85%, below a session high of 2.7% (Market Index).
- 2.5 bps was the fall in the Australian 10-year yield, to 5.33%; the 3-year fell 2.7 bps to 4.90% (Market Index).
Sector scorecard
- Best: Financials (+1.56%)
- Worst: Communication Services (-1.94%)
- Dispersion (best minus worst): 3.50 pts
- Materials had the widest internal spread: FMG.AU +2.87% and SFR.AU +3.54%, against CXO.AU -6.12% and PLS.AU -3.71% in lithium.
- Four sectors rose: financials, materials, IT (+0.85%) and health care (+0.75%). Energy fell 0.41% and utilities 0.15%.
Top movers
| Ticker | Move | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| SXE.AU | +7.78% | Up to $112.1m Entire acquisition; FY27 EBITDA guidance lifted to at least $110m |
| IPX.AU | +5.91% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven. |
| ZIP.AU | +5.56% | UBS kept Buy, cut target 6% to $4.40; 1Q27 update due 23 October |
| MP1.AU | +4.79% | Rebound after a four-day fall of about 15% (Market Index) |
| IMR.AU | +4.69% | FDA completed review of its third PMA module on 8 October |
| MGH.AU | -15.12% | Firmus IPO withdrawn; JLE unit holds about $1.1bn of Firmus work orders |
| EQR.AU | -7.69% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven. |
| CXO.AU | -6.12% | September quarterly report filed before the open |
| A4N.AU | -5.45% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven. |
| TPG.AU | -4.90% | SpaceX spectrum deal raised direct-to-cell competition concerns |
Notable announcements
- SXE.AU: buying Victorian fire protection and HVAC group Entire for up to $112.1m, $70m upfront, at 5.5x FY26 EV/EBIT; it expects at least 18% EPS accretion on an FY27 pro forma basis.
- MGH.AU: its JLE subsidiary is delivering about $1.1bn of Firmus work orders, of which $373m has been paid, due for completion by the end of calendar 2027 (Market Index).
- GQG Partners: September net outflows of US$2.3bn, offset by US$2.4bn of investment gains, left funds under management at US$149.2bn; the stock closed flat at $1.12.
- Broker lists: UBS dropped CSL and AMP from its Australian top picks and kept BHP, citing copper at about 55% of FY27 EBITDA; Morgans removed Megaport, Pinnacle and ARB from its Best Ideas list (Market Index).
At the AU close (16:15 AEDT)
| Asset | Level | Change | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 (cash) | 7,811.54 | +0.59% | Friday close; S&P futures +0.24% |
| KOSPI | 6,391.93 | -3.53% | First session after a long weekend; Samsung Electronics -4.01% |
| Hang Seng | 24,247.81 | +0.15% | Trading |
| Shanghai Composite | 3,791.80 | -0.58% | Trading |
| Brent (Dec) | US$104.52 | -0.19% | December contract, Yahoo |
| Gold (Dec) | US$4,208.70/oz | -0.18% | After a 1.43% rise on Friday |
| AUD/USD | 0.6986 | -0.02% | US Dollar Index 102.20 |
Next 24h catalysts (AEDT)
- Tue 10:00: ASX open, after the ASX 200 closed at 8,783.2.
- Tue: Telstra annual general meeting, after TLS.AU fell 2.52% to $4.65 (ABC).
- Tue night: JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo report third-quarter results, US time (ABC), with the US 10-year yield at 5.24%.
- Wed 23:30: US September CPI; the Market Index consensus is 0.6% month on month and 3.6% a year.
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