ASX 200 declines amid earnings season setbacks and consumer confidence boost

The Australia 200 trades 68 points (-0.77%) lower at 8891 as of 2.30pm AEST.

Earnings season setbacks affect ASX 200

The Australia 200 (ASX 200) is on track for its biggest one-day decline since the start of August, as a robust beginning to the earnings season faltered, and key stocks like Suncorp and Computershare went ex-dividend.

Major contributors to the index decline

Inflicting pain on the index today, biotech giant CSL dived more than 15% to $230.49, despite reporting its underlying profit rising by 14% to $3.3 billion. Its fall came after the company announced plans to demerge the influenza vaccine company CSL Seqirus as a separate ASX 200 listed entity and as its guidance for FY 2026 fell short of consensus expectations.

Plumbing supplies company Reliance Worldwide also met investor disappointment, with its share price falling 7.72% to $4.25 after reporting a financial year (FY) 2025 profit of US $110.1 million, below market forecast of US $136.1 million. The company noted that US tariffs are expected to reduce its FY 2026 operating earnings by $25–30 million, as nearly half of its Americas cost of goods sold are sourced outside the United States (US).

Consumer confidence and economic growth

For positive news, consumer confidence for August rose by 5.7% to 98.5 points, reaching its highest level since February 2022. It is now just 1.5% below the 100 level, above which signals that optimistic consumers outnumber pessimistic ones.

With 75 basis points (bp) of Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) interest rate cuts delivered this year and inflation falling towards 2%, alongside the ASX 200 hitting record highs, consumer spending and economic growth appear well-positioned to gain.

ASX 200 stocks

Consumer discretionary sector

• Kogan surged 3.97% to $4.06
• JB Hi-Fi added 1.62% to $117.80
• Nick Scali gained 1.27% to $22.40

Materials sector

BHP's share price gained 1.57% to $42.12 despite its FY 2025 revenue falling by 8% to US $51.3 billion from the prior corresponding period, while its underlying profit fell by 26% to US $10.2 billion, driven by lower iron ore and coal prices due to weaker demand from China. However, ‘the Big Australian’ pleased shareholders by announcing a higher final dividend payout ratio of 60%, causing its share price to surge towards multi-month resistance at $42.30 - $42.50. A sustained break above $42.30 - $42.50 would likely open up a move towards resistance at $46.00 - $46.50 in the sessions ahead.

Upcoming earnings reports

Tomorrow brings another day of earnings, with reports expected from companies including James Hardie, Stockland, Santos, Magellan, Transurban, Iluka Resources, Breville Group, and Dexus.

ASX 200 technical analysis

After spending the last two weeks of July consolidating its gains above 8600, the ASX 200 resumed its uptrend, pushing to fresh record highs this week. Providing the ASX 200 remains above short-term support at approximately 8775, we expect the ASX 200 to extend its gains towards the next upside target at 9000.

ASX 200 daily chart

• _{Source: TradingView. The figures stated are as of  19 August 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.}