ASX 200 report:
23 June 2026

The Australia 200 trades  33 points (-0.38%) lower at 8782 as of 3.45pm AEST.

Hawkish Fed hits markets as ASX 200 slides

The ASX 200 is on track for a fourth consecutive day of declines, ahead of this week’s critical Australian consumer price index (CPI) and labour force reports previewed here.

The softer session came as S&P 500 futures fell 0.87% and  Nasdaq futures dropped 1.53% during the Asian session, as investors continued to digest last week’s more hawkish-than-expected Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting under new Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Kevin Warsh.

The United States (US) rates market is now pricing in around a 40% chance of a 25 basis point (bp) Fed rate hike as soon as July, with a full 25 bp hike fully priced for September. This has triggered profit-taking across Asian equity markets, with the South Korean stock market, the KOSPI, falling around 9% and the Nikkei losing 3.5% over the day.

ASX 200 stocks

Energy sector

Energy stocks fell as West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil slipped below $74, testing the 200-day moving average (MA) near $73.69.

• Viva Energy dropped 3.50% to $2.05
• Amplitude Energy slid 2.42% to $1.41
• Beach Energy lost 1.05% to $0.94.

Financials sector

In better news, the financial sector is on track for its highest daily close since before the Federal Budget. Markets appear to have taken some comfort from the government’s revised tax package announced last week, which includes several important carve-outs. These include lifting the small business turnover threshold for capital gains tax (CGT) concessions from $2 million to $10 million, bringing the vast majority of Australia’s small businesses back under the more generous existing rules. This has helped alleviate some of the downside risks to the economy and the banking sector.

• NAB rose 0.92% to $38.21
• ANZ added 1.02% to $35.61
• Westpac climbed 0.80% to $35.40
• Commonwealth Bank edged 0.41% higher to $164.05.

Materials sector

The stronger US dollar, driven by higher rate expectations, left the materials sector particularly exposed given the negative correlation between the greenback and metals prices. Gold fell 1.64% to $4122, weighing on local gold stocks:

• Pantoro slid 6.45% to $2.60
• Catalyst Metals declined 5.57% to $5.76
• Resolute Mining fell 5% to $1.08.

Iron ore futures in Asia also came under pressure, slipping 0.60% to $97.65, their lowest level in four months, with expectations of increased supply from the giant Simandou project in Guinea adding to the decline.

• Mineral Resources dropped 2.3% to $65.1
• Fortescue lost 1.35% to $19.33
• Rio Tinto dipped 0.24% to $175.54
• BHP Group edged 0.23% lower to $60.21, on track for a fourth straight session of declines.

Technology sector

This saw the local technology sector come under further pressure.

• SiteMinder slid 5.71% to $3.80
• DroneShield dropped 5.85% to $2.48
• WiseTech Global fell 3.62% to $28.99, now down more than 21% this week following reports that founder and chairman Richard White is under investigation by the Australian Federal Police.

ASX 200 technical analysis

Early last week, the index hit a nine-week high of 8983.8. Provided any pullback from the 8983.8 high holds above a band of support at 8800 - 8780ish, which it is testing currently, it keeps open a test and break of the mid-April 9021.5 high.

Be aware that if the ASX 200 were to fall below support at 8800 - 8780 on a sustained basis, it would be an initial indication the recent break higher has failed and raise the risk of a deeper pullback towards the lower end of the recent range.

ASX 200 daily candlestick chart

• _{Source: TradingView. The figures stated are as of 23 June 2026. 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.}