Australia 200 afternoon report: 6 May 2025

The Australia 200 trades 5 points (0.07%) higher at 8163 as of 2.15pm AEST.

The Australia 200 is holding near the flat line in a quiet session that has seen the index fluctuate within a narrow 30-point range - the smallest in eight weeks if maintained through the close.

This muted price action follows a subdued, low-volume session on Wall Street, where a multi-day winning streak ended as investors weighed strong economic data against persistent United States (US) trade tensions ahead of the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) policy decision on Thursday morning (AEST).

Australian data disappoints

March building approvals fell sharply, declining 8.8% month-on-month (MoM), well below the expected 1.5% decrease. House approvals dropped 4.3%, while the more volatile apartments segment plunged 14.6%, reinforcing concerns that current construction levels fall short of the 240,000 new homes required annually to ease the national housing shortage.

Australia 200 stocks

Banking sector

Major banks extended their recent declines amid Westpac's underwhelming first-half 2025 earnings and caution ahead of NAB’s upcoming report:

• Westpac fell 1.69% to $31.90
• National Australia Bank decreased 1.2% to $35.43
• ANZ dropped 0.82% to $29.81
• Commonwealth Bank of Australia slipped 0.1% to $166.77

Healthcare sector

Tariff-related concerns weighed on healthcare stocks:

• CSL fell 1.2% to $253.71
• Telix Pharmaceuticals declined 3.46% to $28.14
• Ramsay Health Care lost 0.57% to $34.73

Technology sector

IT stocks saw mixed action:

• WiseTech Global fell 3.23% to $91.13 amid tariff uncertainty and CEO transition
• Appen dropped 2.68%
• Novonix declined 2.3%
• Computershare slid 1.2%
• NEXTDC surged 8.02% to $13.68 after a 30% jump in contracted utilisation on AI-driven demand wins

Gold sector

Gold stocks rallied as the gold price advanced 0.8% to $3360, following a 2.88% gain yesterday:

• Resolute Mining jumped 8.91% to $0.55
• Evolution Mining rose 4.62% to $8.50
• Perseus Mining added 4.6% to $3.53
• Regis Resources climbed 3.95% to $4.60

Australia 200 technical analysis

From its mid-February high of 8615, the ASX200 declined 16.78% to its April low of 7169 - a move seen as a correction rather than the start of a new bear market.

Following its strong recovery, the index is expected to consolidate around the 200-day moving average (MA) (currently at 8147) in the coming months. However, May’s historical volatility could introduce short-term swings around this level.

Australia 200 daily chart