Australia 200 afternoon report: 1 July 2025

The Australia 200 trades 1 point (0.02%) higher at 8543 as of 2.40pm AEST.

Early gains and trade uncertainties

The Australia 200 (ASX 200) began the new financial year on a positive note, adding 34 points to reach a high of 8576. However, it later slipped back due to low trading volumes as early interest faded, influenced by school holidays and end-of-financial-year reporting.

Adding to the subdued mood, trade uncertainty continues ahead of the 9 July United States (US) tariff expiry deadline. Additionally, the US will release a key labour market report, which is likely to strongly influence expectations for potential interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve (Fed) in the coming months.

Overnight, AUD/USD reached a high of 0.6582, marking its highest level in eight months. These gains are expected to benefit stocks with significant exposure to costs in US dollars.

Australia 200 stocks

Travel stocks

Travel stocks were boosted by a stronger AUD/USD..

• Flight Centre jumped 3.29% to $12.89
• Corporate Travel added 2.82% to $14.24
• Virgin Australia rose 1.94% to $3.15

Materials sector

Conversely, a stronger AUD/USD could negatively impact export-focused companies such as the big miners. 

• Rio Tinto fell 1.1% to $105.95
• BHP dropped 0.41% to $36.60
• Mineral Resources slipped 0.16% to $21.52

Real estate

Dip buyers re-entered after last week’s weakness, lifting property stocks.

• Scentre rose 3.23% to $3.67
• Stockland added 2.71% to $5.50
• GPT Group lifted 2.07% to $4.94
• Centuria Capital advanced 1.78% to $1.71

Technology sector

Local tech shares tracked the rally on Wall Street, where the US Tech 100 (Nasdaq 100) closed at a new record high.

• DroneShield surged 7.68% to $2.45
• Appen gained 4.46% to $1.17
• Life360 rose 3.93% to $33.45
• Zip climbed 3.42% to $3.18, extending its winning streak to six sessions

Financial sector

Commonwealth Bank of Australia extended its decline to a fourth session, down 1.0% at $182.95, now more than 5% below last week's $192.00 record high.

Capital appeared to rotate into peers:

• ANZ advanced 1.70% to $29.65
• NAB rose 0.70% to $39.63
• Westpac edged 0.13% higher to $33.90

Elsewhere, Insignia Financial rallied 5.5% to $3.83 following confirmation that CC Capital Partners is still working on a 'binding bid'.

Australia 200 technical analysis

After the Australia 200 hit a new record high of 8639 earlier this month, we observed that the relative strength index (RSI) was at its most overbought level since December 2023, which was followed by a 4% pullback.

The 2.5% pullback since then, reaching last Monday’s 8421.1 low, helped the index work off overbought readings. The move was orderly, even reluctant, which suggests that the decline was a correction rather than the start of a downward trend.

In summary, provided the Australia 200 holds above support at 8420 – 8400 on a sustained basis, the view is that the correction from the 8639 high is complete at last Monday’s 8421.1 low. A retest and break of the 8639 high will likely follow.

Australia 200 daily chart

• _{Source: TradingView. The figures stated are as of 1 July 2025. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. This report does not contain and is not to be taken as containing any financial product advice or financial product recommendation.}