ASX 200 falls 0.59% to 8,834.5 as a projected Democratic House win hits miners; utilities gain 1.17%
ASX 200 close: 8,834.5 (-0.59%) Breadth: 69 advancers / 127 decliners Sentiment: bearish
The S&P/ASX 200 closed at 8,834.5 on 4 November 2026, down 52.3 points or 0.59%, after Decision Desk HQ projected that Democrats would win the US House and S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures fell 1.25% and 2.12% by 2:19pm AEDT (Market Index). 4DX.AU lost 10.79% to $2.15, while XYZ.AU gained 6.06% to $116.31 after Block raised its FY26 guidance. Materials fell 1.46%; Market Index linked the fall to copper, which has tracked the AI trade, and to the risk of tighter US rules on data centres.
What moved the index
Materials, industrials, A-REITs and financials took about 52 bps from the ASX 200 on 4 November 2026, out of the 59 bps fall.
- Materials: -1.46%, worth about -28 bps of the -59 bps index move. BHP.AU lost 1.52% to $55.56, RIO.AU 1.69% to $143.05, FMG.AU 1.46% to $14.19 and MIN.AU 3.19% to $43.36. The sector moved from a 0.2% gain early to a 2.2% loss by 2:19pm as the House projection landed (Market Index). LME copper settled 2.2% lower at US$14,036/t on Tuesday, its lowest since 14 September (ABC).
- Industrials: -1.25%, worth about -9 bps. QAN.AU fell 4.91% to $8.90, giving back most of Tuesday's 6.36% gain. SGH.AU lost 2.60% to $41.21.
- A-REITs: -1.10%, worth about -8 bps, after +2.85% on Tuesday. GMG.AU fell 1.61% to $26.87 after its first-quarter update, and SCG.AU 1.37% to $3.61 after it sized its David Jones exposure.
- Financials: -0.20%, worth about -7 bps. CBA.AU lost 0.58% to $166.26, PNI.AU 5.93% and NWL.AU 5.85%. NAB.AU gained 0.49% and WBC.AU 0.52% to end ahead of the sector.
Together, these four drivers account for about 52 bps of the 59 bps move; the residual reflects health care and consumer discretionary losses, part-offset by utilities and energy, with 69 advancers to 127 decliners.
Session highlights
- 8,803.7 was the session low in late trade, 0.94% below Tuesday's close; the index recovered 30.8 points by the close. 8,861.4 was the high, so the index traded below Tuesday's 8,886.8 for the whole session.
- 4.90% was the US 10-year yield at 1:10pm AEDT, down 6 bps and the lowest since 10 September (Market Index). The Australian 10-year fell 5 bps to 5.05% and the 3-year 4 bps to 4.75% by 2:19pm.
- 0.6% was the September rise in Australian household spending, after -0.1% in August. Fuel spending rose 5.4% on higher prices, while experimental ABS data put fuel volumes 2.2% lower (ABS).
- 48.5 was the October services PMI from S&P Global, down from 51.9 and its first reading below 50 since May. The composite fell to 48.2 from 51.3 (Market Index).
- 11.30 was the AU VIX close, up 0.88%.
Sector scorecard
- Best: Utilities (+1.17%)
- Worst: Materials (-1.46%)
- Dispersion (best minus worst): 2.63 pts
- Health Care had the widest internal spread among the names checked, 13.25 pts, from TLX.AU +2.46% to 4DX.AU -10.79%.
- Energy +0.86%, Consumer Staples +0.28%, Information Technology +0.17%, Communication Services -0.01%, Health Care -0.66%, Consumer Discretionary -0.68%. Resources -1.03%.
- ORG.AU rose 1.89% to $12.40 and WOW.AU 1.25% to $40.41 as Utilities and Staples led.
- All Ords Gold fell 0.79% to 16,521.4 with December gold up 2.24% at 5:33pm AEDT; NST.AU lost 1.95% to $23.60.
Top movers
| Ticker | Move | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| XYZ.AU | +6.06% | Q3 gross profit +22% to US$3.24bn; FY26 guidance raised. |
| WIA.AU | +4.17% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven. |
| BNZ.AU | +4.16% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven. |
| NXT.AU | +4.15% | Data centre names bounced early (Market Index); no notice today. |
| VEA.AU | +4.07% | Energy +0.86%; recovered part of Tuesday's 6.57% fall. |
| 4DX.AU | -10.79% | Company cited short interest on Monday; hedge fund selling resumed after its AGM (Sharecafe). |
| SLX.AU | -9.58% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven. |
| EOS.AU | -7.77% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven. |
| DRO.AU | -7.63% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven. |
| PNI.AU | -5.93% | Unannounced, likely flow-driven. |
Notable announcements
- XYZ.AU: third-quarter revenue rose 10% to US$6.72bn and adjusted EPS 109% to US$1.13. FY26 adjusted operating income guidance rose to US$3.5bn, against US$3.22bn expected, though Cash App inflows of US$86bn missed by about 4% (Market Index).
- GMG.AU: work in progress of $19.7bn is 79% data centres and 31% pre-committed, with a 9% FY27 operating EPS growth target (Market Index).
- SCG.AU: David Jones is about 3.6% of funds from operations and about 1.8% of gross rent. Scentre reaffirmed its 2026 target of at least 23.79c and sold 50% of Westfield Mt Gravatt for $882.5m (Market Index).
- INA.AU: the board ruled that Warburg Pincus's amended $5.45 proposal is not superior, leaving AVID's matched $5.45 offer in place. The stock lost 3.76% to $5.12 (Market Index).
- WOR.AU: signed the EPC contract for Venture Global's CP2 Expansion LNG project, with a final investment decision targeted for early 2027 (Market Index). The stock fell 3.49% to $9.95.
After the AU close (17:33 AEDT)
| Asset | Level | Change | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 (cash) | 7,568.92 | +0.36% | Tuesday's close; S&P 500 futures -0.39% at 17:33 AEDT, off the -1.25% print |
| STOXX 600 | 645.66 | -0.58% | Tuesday's close |
| Nikkei | 62,051.30 | -1.63% | Closed |
| KOSPI | 5,654.23 | +0.10% | Closed; faded a 3.1% early gain (Market Index) |
| Hang Seng | 23,791.46 | +1.13% | Trading |
| Brent (Jan) | US$104.03 | +0.42% | AFR cites mixed US-Iran progress |
| Gold (Dec) | US$4,028.60/oz | +2.24% | US dollar index -0.35% and lower US yields |
| AUD/USD | 0.6983 | +0.19% | US dollar index -0.35% |
Next 24h catalysts (AEDT)
- Thu 5 Nov 00:30: US international trade in goods and services
- Thu 5 Nov, morning: US midterm counts continue; final results could take weeks in some states (Bloomberg, via Market Index)
- Thu 5 Nov 11:30: ABS international trade in goods, September
- Thu 5 Nov: NAB.AU full-year results and the WDS.AU Capital Markets Day
Context only, not financial advice. Track your own trades with Swingfolio.