ASX 200 ends week -0.13% at 8,795.2 as banks gain 4.02% and miners fall 7.69%

ASX 200 week close: 8,795.2 (-0.13%) S&P 500 Friday close: 7,623.68 (-0.52%) Sentiment: mixed

The week on the ASX

The S&P/ASX 200 closed at 8,795.2 on 23 October 2026, down 11.5 points or 0.13% from 8,806.7 on 16 October, as a 4.02% gain in financials offset most of a 7.69% fall in materials. Financials added about 120 bps to the index and materials took about 160 bps away; industrials (+2.66%), health care (+1.84%) and utilities (+1.93%) made up most of the gap. The index rose 0.44% on Monday to 8,845.7, its highest close since 9 September, then fell 0.33% on Tuesday, gained 0.16% on Wednesday, fell 0.43% on Thursday and closed up 0.02% on Friday.

BHP.AU fell 8.30% for the week to $55.05 after its September-quarter copper output dropped 19% to 400.7 kt on Tuesday, and FMG.AU lost 6.06% after it reported 3.9 Mt of shipped iron ore unsold during its price talks with China Mineral Resources Group. December gold fell 4.22% to US$4,010.0/oz and the All Ords Gold index lost 10.08%. CBA.AU rose 6.23% to $164.00, including 4.35% on Friday with no company news; Market Index described Friday's move as a rotation from miners into banks. The Small Ordinaries fell 3.85% to 3,066.5, and the All Ordinaries 0.39% to 8,905.8.

Sector scorecard (5-day)

The S&P/ASX 200 Communication Services index rose 4.04% in the week to 23 October 2026, the best of the 11 sectors, while materials fell 7.69%.

• Best: Communication Services (+4.04%), with TLS.AU up 1.89% to $4.85 on Wednesday.
• Worst: Materials (-7.69%): BHP.AU -8.30%, RIO.AU -5.59% to $146.27, and FMG.AU -6.06% to $14.27.
• Dispersion (best minus worst): 11.73 pts
• 4.02% was the financials gain: CBA.AU +6.23%, NAB.AU +5.06% to $41.31, WBC.AU +4.67% and ANZ.AU +2.96%. NAB.AU announced up to 2,500 job cuts on Tuesday, which Morgan Stanley estimated would save $400m to $450m gross.
• 10.08% was the All Ords Gold index loss, with EVN.AU down 10.24% to $11.31.
• Information technology fell 5.11% as NXT.AU lost 38.89%, while WTC.AU gained 6.67% to $40.12. Energy fell 1.49% even though December Brent rose 6.58%.
• A-REITs +0.23%, Consumer Discretionary +1.72%, Consumer Staples +1.78%.

Top movers, week ending 23 October

NXT.AU lost 41.72% on Wednesday after Jemena suspended grid works at its M3 Melbourne data centre until at least February 2027, and two data centre contractors in the screen lost 13% to 19% for the week. NCK.AU lost 12.58% to $12.65 after guiding first-half underlying profit to $28m to $32m, and MFG.AU fell 13.24% after its assets under management dropped 8% to $38.0bn.

Friday US session

• S&P 500: 7,623.68 (-0.52%)
• Nasdaq: 25,955.34 (-0.21%)
• Dow: 52,215.16 (-1.23%)
• VIX: 19.45 (+2.21%)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 652.82 points or 1.23% on 23 October 2026 as December Brent rose 3.30% to US$116.91 on renewed US and Iran tension, and the three largest US airlines fell between 3.13% and 3.99% on fuel costs. The Dow gained 0.41% for the week, while the S&P 500 lost 0.47% and the Nasdaq 0.71%. On Thursday the Nasdaq fell 2.60% after META.US dropped 6.98% to US$648.85 on its AI spending plans (TradingKey), and December WTI closed Friday up 3.99% at US$103.44.

AUD/USD ended the week at 0.7038, up 1.28% from 0.6949, in a week when November RBA rate rise pricing moved to 41%. A stronger AUD reduces the Australian-dollar value of US-dollar revenue for CSL.AU (+2.34% for the week to $196.70) and other USD earners. December gold fell 1.24% on Friday to US$4,010.0/oz, and spot gold dropped below US$4,000 for the first time since July (Yahoo Finance, 23 October).

Macro themes that played out

RBA deputy governor Andrew Hauser called the inflation outlook "materially worse" on 21 October 2026, and market pricing for a November cash rate rise moved to 41% from 27% (Market Index). UBS now expects a 25 bp rise to 4.85% in November and said timing depends on the September CPI due on Wednesday. Australia's 10-year yield rose 4 bps to 5.26% on Tuesday. The S&P Global flash composite PMI for October fell to 47.7 from 51.3 on Friday, the first contraction in five months, with services at 47.8 and input cost inflation at its fastest since May.

China's third-quarter GDP grew 4.5% year on year on 19 October, against a 4.4% estimate, and China's September coal output fell 6.8% to 385 Mt; WHC.AU rose 3.40% on Friday after lifting quarterly ROM output 22% to 11.0 Mt. In the US, the 10-year Treasury yield fell 19 bps to 4.95% in the session after META.US results. Traders had added to bets on a Fed rate rise earlier in the week (Bloomberg), and the FOMC decides on Thursday morning AEDT. South Korea's KOSPI fell 4.23% on Tuesday and as much as 4.1% on Friday on chipmaker selling.

Week ahead, Monday to Friday (AEDT)

• Mon 26 Oct: No AU or US tier-one data release in the calendar.
• Wed 28 Oct 11:30: ABS Consumer Price Index, September 2026, the last inflation print before the RBA's 3 November decision and forecasts.
• Thu 29 Oct 05:00: FOMC rate decision and statement for October 2026.
• Thu 29 Oct 11:30: ABS International Trade Price Indexes, September 2026.
• Thu 29 Oct 23:30: US third-quarter GDP and September personal income and outlays.
• Fri 30 Oct 11:30: ABS Producer Price Indexes, September 2026.
• Fri 30 Oct 23:30: US Employment Cost Index for the third quarter.

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