ASX 200 jumps 2.61% to 9,065.1 after Democrats win Congress; materials +7.55%, NXT.AU +50.84%

ASX 200 close: 9,065.1 (+2.61%) Breadth: 194 advancers / 31 decliners Sentiment: bullish

The S&P/ASX 200 closed at 9,065.1 on 5 November 2026, up 230.6 points or 2.61%, its largest one-day gain since 10 April 2025, after Democrats won the US House and Senate and the Dow gained 3.03%. NXT.AU rose 50.84% to $9.85 after a Goodman and Digital Realty vehicle offered $9.50 a share for up to 9.9% of the company. January Brent settled 8.7% lower overnight at US$94.62 and ASX energy lost 4.76%, while December gold added 1.59% to US$4,137.90/oz after a 3.43% rise overnight.

What moved the index

Materials added about 151 bps of the ASX 200's 261 bps gain on 5 November 2026, and energy and financials took back about 27 bps.

• Materials: +7.55%, worth about +151 bps. Market Index called it the sector's best day since March 2020, after a fall of almost 20% from its 25 August record. RIO.AU rose 6.98% to $153.04, BHP.AU 6.19% to $59.00 and FMG.AU 9.16% to $15.49, with iron ore +0.87% to US$92.80/t at 4:10pm AEDT (ABC). The All Ords Gold index gained 12.38%: EVN.AU +14.21%, NEM.AU +13.02%.
• Health care and A-REITs: +3.64% and +3.32%, together about +56 bps. COH.AU rose 8.65%, CSL.AU 2.56% and GMG.AU 7.03% to $28.76 on its NextDC stake. UBS expects the RBA to hold the cash rate at 4.85% after Tuesday's rise (Market Index).
• Consumer, industrials and communications: discretionary +2.57%, staples +3.27%, industrials +2.21% and communication services +2.05%, together about +52 bps. COL.AU rose 4.47%, QAN.AU 6.18% as crude fell, and REA.AU 11.20% on its first-quarter result.
• Information technology: +10.09%, worth about +25 bps from a sector weight near 2.5%. XRO.AU rose 12.55% and WTC.AU 7.48%.
• Energy and financials: -4.76% and -0.29%, together about -27 bps. WDS.AU fell 6.02% to $30.59 and STO.AU 5.41% to $8.56. NAB.AU lost 5.37% to $38.96, while CBA.AU closed flat at $166.29 and MQG.AU gained 3.41% a day before its half-year result.

Together, these five drivers account for about 257 bps of the 261 bps move; the residual reflects a breadth count of 194 advancers to 31 decliners.

Session highlights

• 9,065.1 was both the close and the session high, after a low near 8,951. The index last closed higher on 1 September, at 9,066.7.
• 11.65 was the AU VIX close, up 3.11% on a day the index gained 2.61%.
• A$2.83 billion was Australia's September goods surplus, against an expected A$0.8 billion deficit and a revised A$0.18 billion surplus in August (Trading Economics). Exports rose 2.3% to A$48.43 billion.
• 7.7% was NAB.AU's fall at 11:17am (Market Index), before it recovered to close 5.37% lower. Its low was $37.91.
• SCG.AU slipped 0.28% to $3.60 and VCX.AU 0.40% to $2.47 after David Jones collapsed after 188 years (ABC). Scentre said the retailer occupies space at 17 Westfield centres and has paid rent up to 30 September. MYR.AU rose 13.04% to $0.26.
• S&P 500 futures -0.18% and Nasdaq 100 futures -1.17% at 5:30pm AEDT. UBS said potential state-level limits put about 30% of expected 2028 US data centre capacity additions at risk (Market Index).

Sector scorecard

• Best: Information Technology (+10.09%)
• Worst: Energy (-4.76%)
• Dispersion (best minus worst): 14.85 pts
• Materials had the widest internal spread among the names checked, 26.27 pts, from PNR.AU +18.48% to AMC.AU -7.79%.
• Health Care +3.64%, A-REITs +3.32%, Consumer Staples +3.27%, Consumer Discretionary +2.57%, Industrials +2.21%, Communication Services +2.05%, Financials -0.29%, Utilities -1.51%.

Top movers

Notable announcements

• NXT.AU: JPMorgan crossed about 7.5% of the company before the open for a vehicle owned 50-50 by GMG.AU and Digital Realty (Market Index). NextDC's board called the purchase opportunistic, and the buyers said they do not currently intend to make a control proposal or takeover bid.
• NAB.AU: FY26 cash earnings fell 13.4% to $6.14 billion, under a $6.33 billion consensus. Credit impairment charges rose 86% to $1.55 billion, and earnings were flat at $7.09 billion without $1.35 billion of software amortisation.
• WDS.AU: targeted sales volumes about 30% higher at about 280 MMboe by 2032 and a distribution policy of 20% to 40% of adjusted operating cash flow (Market Index). Stockhead reported more than 500 job cuts.
• APE.AU: forecast record 2026 revenue of $17.3 billion to $17.5 billion, up at least 30%, and said interest rates, inflation and fuel costs would hit margins in Australia.
• REA.AU: first-quarter revenue rose 11% to $450 million against a $436 million UBS forecast, while October listings fell 13% (Market Index).
• LNW.AU: fell 3.17% after trimming FY26 adjusted EBITDA growth guidance to the lower end of its mid-to-high single digit range.

After the AU close (17:30 AEDT)

Next 24h catalysts (AEDT)

• Thu 5 Nov 23:00: Bank of England rate decision
• Fri 6 Nov 00:30: US productivity and costs
• Fri 6 Nov: MQG.AU half-year result
• Sat 7 Nov 00:30: US employment report, October

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