ASX 200 slips 0.03% to 8,847.3 as 4.3% CPI erases a 0.94% morning gain

ASX 200 close: 8,847.3 (-0.03%) Breadth: 118 advancers / 93 decliners Sentiment: mixed

The S&P/ASX 200 closed at 8,847.3 on 28 October 2026, down 2.8 points or 0.03%, after September CPI came in at 4.3% annual against 4.2% expected and reversed a morning high of 8,933.3. NXT.AU rose 9.39% to $6.29 after reporting covenant compliance and headroom, as information technology gained 2.36%. Markets put the odds of an RBA hike on 3 November at about 90% (ABC), and rate-sensitive consumer, property and utility stocks closed lower.

What moved the index

Rate-sensitive sectors took about 27 bps from the ASX 200 on 28 October 2026, and materials added about 22 bps.

• Rate-sensitive sectors after CPI: consumer discretionary -1.53%, A-REITs -0.49%, industrials -0.69%, communication services -1.07%, consumer staples -0.74%, utilities -1.24% and health care -0.26%, together worth about -27 bps. WES.AU fell 2.14% to $77.14 and JBH.AU 2.30% to $70.66 as hike pricing rose after the 11:30am release (Stockhead).
• Energy: -2.45%, worth about -9 bps. WDS.AU fell 3.16% to $32.13, STO.AU 1.74% and ALD.AU 3.75% after crude eased overnight on Iran diplomacy (Market Index).
• Materials: +1.07%, worth about 22 bps. The All Ords Gold index rose 2.61% after spot gold gained 1.1% overnight (Market Index); EVN.AU added 2.22% and SFR.AU 4.84%, while BHP.AU closed up 0.09%.
• Information technology and financials: technology +2.36% (about 7 bps) and financials +0.16% (about 5 bps). CBA.AU rose 0.61% to $163.01 and WBC.AU 0.97%, while QBE.AU fell 2.42% and IAG.AU 2.27%.

Together, these drivers account for about -2 bps of the -3 bps move; advancers led decliners 118 to 93 across the 224-name sweep, with 13 unchanged, and the Small Ordinaries rose 1.03% (Stockhead).

Session highlights

• 8,933.3 was the session high on Yahoo intraday data, 0.94% above Tuesday's 8,850.1 close, set before the CPI release; the index closed 86 points below it.
• 0.8% monthly CPI growth in September beat the 0.7% forecast, and annual trimmed mean inflation matched estimates at 3.6% (Market Index, ABS). For the September quarter, trimmed mean rose 1.0% against an RBA forecast of 0.8% (ABC) and headline CPI 1.3%.
• 9.4% higher automotive fuel prices in September followed a 14.8% jump in August; housing costs rose 5.2% over the year (Market Index, ABS).
• KOSPI +6.70% to 6,016.33 and Nikkei +1.23% to 64,044.31 at their closes; the RBNZ held its cash rate at 2.75% on a 4-3 vote (ABC).

Sector scorecard

• Best: Information Technology (+2.36%), with the All Ords Gold index +2.61%
• Worst: Energy (-2.45%)
• Dispersion (best minus worst): 4.81 pts
• Energy had the widest internal spread, 13.18 pts, from BMN.AU +9.25% to NHC.AU -3.93%.
• Materials +1.07%, Resources +0.57%, Financials +0.16%, Health Care -0.26%, A-REITs -0.49%, Industrials -0.69%, Consumer Staples -0.74%, Communication Services -1.07%, Utilities -1.24%, Consumer Discretionary -1.53%.

Top movers

Notable announcements

• SGR.AU: in a trading halt after the Federal Court ordered a $260m penalty for anti-money laundering breaches in AUSTRAC's case (ABC); the halt runs until an announcement or the open on Friday 30 October.
• WOW.AU: first quarter group sales rose 4.7% to $19.4bn, with Australian Food up 6.9% to $14.84bn (Market Index); shares fell 0.46% to $40.82.
• VCX.AU: reaffirmed FY27 FFO guidance of 16.0c to 16.2c a security at its AGM, with occupancy at 99.6% (Market Index).
• RIO.AU: the board proposed raising the CEO's target pay 56% to £9.8m (Reuters via ABC); shares rose 0.17% to $150.58.

At the AU close (16:15 AEDT)

S&P 500 futures rose 0.01% and Nasdaq futures 0.43% at the AU close.

Next 24h catalysts (AEDT)

• Thu 29 October, 05:00: FOMC decision
• Thu 29 October, 11:30: Australia international trade price indexes, September quarter
• Fri 30 October: SGR.AU trading halt ends at the open unless lifted earlier
• Tue 3 November: RBA rate decision

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