ASX 200 rises 0.46% to 8,850.1 as BHP jumps 4.26% on the copper and AI trade; NAB falls 1.73%
ASX 200 close: 8,850.1 (+0.46%) Breadth: 119 advancers / 86 decliners Sentiment: mixed
The S&P/ASX 200 closed at 8,850.1 on 27 October 2026, up 40.2 points or 0.46%, as materials gained 2.78% on a 4.26% jump in BHP.AU, recovering an early fall to 8,773.6. BHP.AU and RIO.AU rose as copper producers tracked the AI trade after Anthropic's IPO filing lifted the Nasdaq 0.82% overnight (SMH). Seven of 11 sectors closed lower, with financials down 0.59% ahead of Wednesday's September CPI and the RBA's 3 November meeting.
What moved the index
Materials added about 61 bps to the ASX 200 on 27 October 2026, and financials took about 19 bps away.
- Materials: +2.78%, worth about 61 bps. BHP.AU rose 4.26% to $57.99 and RIO.AU 2.53% to $150.32; SFR.AU gained 2.29% and S32.AU 2.58%. COMEX copper rose 0.24% to US$6.558/lb while iron ore eased 0.11% to US$90.60/t (ABC).
- Financials: -0.59%, worth about -19 bps. NAB.AU fell 1.73% to $40.29, WBC.AU 0.96%, CBA.AU 0.72% to $162.02 and ANZ.AU 0.10%; all four majors closed lower (SMH).
- Retail and telcos: consumer discretionary -0.56%, staples -0.22% and communication services -0.80%, together about -8 bps. APE.AU fell 4.69% and COL.AU 0.79% as bets on another RBA rate rise next week weighed on consumer stocks (SMH).
- A-REITs: +0.78%, worth about 5 bps. GMG.AU rose 3.24% to $26.76.
Together, these drivers account for about 39 bps of the 46 bps move; energy (+0.63%), information technology (+0.38%) and health care (+0.11%) cover most of the residual, and advancers led decliners 119 to 86 across the 217-name sweep, with 12 unchanged.
Session highlights
- 8,773.6 was the session low on Yahoo intraday data, 0.41% below Monday's 8,809.9 close; the index then rose to a high of 8,858.3 in the afternoon.
- 5.16% was the Australian 10-year yield at 10:30am (ABC), with the September CPI due at 11:30am Wednesday and the RBA meeting on 3 November.
- MP1.AU +9.60% to $17.58, NXT.AU +3.79% to $5.75 and SKS.AU +10.11% to $5.99 as data centre and AI infrastructure names rose after Anthropic's IPO filing (SMH, Stockhead).
- CSL.AU +0.84% to $196.78 after it guided to underlying profit growth of about 5% this financial year on flat revenue (Stockhead).
- 360.AU fell 4.62% to $20.43 after its US line, LIF.US, lost 2.68% to US$44.02 overnight.
Sector scorecard
- Best: Materials (+2.78%), with Resources +2.53% and the All Ords Gold index +1.45%
- Worst: Communication Services (-0.80%)
- Dispersion (best minus worst): 3.58 pts
- Materials had the widest internal spread, 12.34 pts, from FFM.AU +9.30% to PRU.AU -3.04%.
- A-REITs +0.78%, Energy +0.63%, Information Technology +0.38%, Health Care +0.11%, Industrials -0.21%, Consumer Staples -0.22%, Utilities -0.29%, Consumer Discretionary -0.56%, Financials -0.59%.
Top movers
| Ticker | Move | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| SXE.AU | +13.56% | AGM day; AI infrastructure buying after Anthropic's IPO filing (Stockhead). |
| GNG.AU | +10.94% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven. |
| MP1.AU | +9.60% | Data centre networks provider rose with the AI trade (SMH). |
| PYC.AU | +9.40% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven. |
| FFM.AU | +9.30% | Reported another high-grade copper-gold VMS discovery. |
| APE.AU | -4.69% | RBA rate-rise bets hit consumer stocks (SMH). |
| 360.AU | -4.62% | LIF.US fell 2.68% to US$44.02 overnight. |
| CAT.AU | -3.07% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven. |
| PRU.AU | -3.04% | September quarter output 92,551 oz, about 8% below UBS forecasts. |
| CMW.AU | -2.99% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven. |
Notable announcements
- PRU.AU: September quarter gold output of 92,551 oz, about 8% below UBS's estimate, with costs up 5% to US$2,035/oz, about 9% above forecast; planned maintenance was partly blamed (Stockhead).
- SFR.AU: produced 38,900 t of copper equivalent in the September quarter, roughly in line with expectations (Stockhead); shares rose 2.29% to $19.62.
- WDS.AU: agreed to sell its Sunrise joint venture interest to TIMOR GAP for up to US$200m, with completion expected in 2027 (ABC); shares rose 0.27% to $33.18.
- SGR.AU: September quarter EBITDA of $12m against a $13m loss a year earlier (SMH); shares rose 13.04% to $0.13, and 96% of AGM votes backed the remuneration report (ABC).
- APE.AU: on Monday agreed to buy the remaining 20% of its BYD retail joint venture, with a proposed issue of securities.
At the AU close (16:15 AEDT)
| Asset | Level | Change | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nikkei | 63,218.94 | +1.65% | Closed |
| KOSPI | 5,642.02 | +3.15% | Closed |
| Hang Seng | 23,035.29 | -0.76% | Trading |
| Brent | US$114.73 | -0.93% | Eased at 4:35pm (ABC) |
| Gold (spot) | US$4,006.50/oz | -0.24% | Fed decision due Thursday AEDT (ABC) |
| AUD/USD | 0.7024 | +0.11% | CPI due Wednesday |
S&P 500 futures fell 0.05% and Nasdaq futures 0.36% at the AU close.
Next 24h catalysts (AEDT)
- Wed 28 October, 11:30: Australia September CPI
- Thu 29 October, 05:00: FOMC decision; the Fed is expected to hold at 3.75% to 4.00% (ABC)
- Thu 29 October, 11:30: Australia international trade price indexes, September quarter
- Tue 3 November: RBA rate decision
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