ASX 200 closes above 9,000 for first time as all sectors rally
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The news: The Australian sharemarket closed at a new record, with the benchmark ASX 200 index breaching 9,000 for the first time as all industry sectors finished higher.
The ASX 200 rose 1.13% to end at 9,019.1 with all sectors finishing in green. It also hit an intraday high of 9,019.1.
The best performing sector was industrials (+3.4%) as Brambles (+13.2%), the biggest gainer on the ASX 200, and Downer EDI (+5.9%) shares surged. Both companies reported big increases in full-year profit and announced share buybacks worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
The finance sector (+0.9%) was also buoyed by gains for Commonwealth Bank (+0.8%), Westpac (+1.3%), NAB (+0.9%) and ANZ (+1.5%).
Biggest movers:
- MA Financial (+13.8%) – Announced a 43.7% decrease in statutory net profit after tax but a rise in assets under management for the first half of FY25.
- Super Retail Group (+12.3%) – Reported better-than-expected sales growth and gross profit margins for the 2025 financial year. Also appointed former Kathmandu CEO Reuben Casey as managing director of Macpac.
- Vault Minerals (+11.9%) – Managing director and chief executive Luke Tonkin has resigned from the gold miner. Reported net profit after tax of $237 million in the company’s first full-year results.
- Codan (+10.7%) – The technology manufacturer’s full-year result topped consensus forecasts for profit, revenue and dividends.
- James Hardie (+9.4%) – Reported a 60% drop in first-quarter net profit and downgraded full-year guidance on Wednesday, when its share price dropped nearly 28%. Several analysts downgraded their position on the stock or cut their target price.
- Ridley Corporation (+8.6%) – Posted a 8.7% increase in full-year profit and an 8.6% gain in EBITDA.
- Bega Group (+7.7%) – Full-year EBITDA growth came in at 23% and was higher than expected for the bulk business. The company also said it is on track to beat its FY28 EBITDA target of $250 million.
- Telix Pharmaceuticals (+7%) – Reiterated its 2025 revenue guidance amid increased investment and business expansion. As previously flagged, Telix revenue had increased by 63% year on year for the first half of 2025.
- IPH (-19.5%) – On a like-for-like basis and adjusting for foreign currency movements, underlying earnings fell 3.9% as chief executive Andrew Blattman warned of a decline in US market patent filings.
- Healius (-13.6%) – The healthcare services provider reported a lower than expected revenue and EBIT for FY25.
- Sonic Healthcare (-12.8%) – Reported a 7% rise in full-year profit to $514 million as the pathology services provider targets increased earnings growth in FY26 driven by its acquisition of German lab group LADR.
Other earnings news:
- Netwealth (-0.6%) – Saw a 39.8% uptick in net profit for the 2025 financial year after delivering record 12-month inflows, but UBS analysts said its FY26 guidance will “underwhelm”.
- Goodman Group (-1.4%) – Bounced back to a $1.67 billion full-year statutory profit, rebounding from a $98.9 million loss in the preceding financial year, but missed the market consensus estimate.
- Megaport (-3.4%) – Reported FY25 capital investment of $34.3 million, 14% ahead of market consensus estimates.
Other companies that reported earnings were SkyCity Entertainment Group, Whitehaven Coal (+3.1%), Insignia Financial (-0.2%), National Storage REIT (+2.9%), Charter Hall Group (+0.2%), Northern Star Resources (+0.5%), Auckland International Airport (-1.3%),
Other news:
- Fisher & Paykel (+1.3%) – Expects 31% growth in first-half profit for FY26, compared to the prior corresponding period, and retained full-year guidance.
- PointsBet (+0.4%) – MIXI intends to increase its off-market takeover cash offer price to $1.30 from for each PointsBet share it doesn’t already own. The improved price is subject to acquiring at least a 90% stake in the company, at which point it would be obliged to buyout remaining shareholders. Rival takeover bidder Betr has a 19.6% interest in PointsBet.
- Elanor Commercial Property Fund (-0.7%) – The fund’s independent board committee has recommended securityholders to reject the Lederer Group’s takeover offer for the listed fund.
What’s ahead:
- The US Department of Labor will release weekly data on unemployment claims tonight at 10:30pm AEST.
- S&P Global will release flash purchasing managers’ index data for August for France, Germany, the UK and the US throughout the evening.
- The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release data on the research and experimental development expenditure carried out by businesses in 2023-24 on Friday at 11:30am AEST.
