3 February 2026

The Australia 200 trades 75 points higher (0.86%) at 8854 as of 3.30pm AEDT.

ASX 200 rebounds and anticipates RBA meeting

The Australia 200 (ASX 200) bounced back strongly from yesterday's sharp sell-off, surging 118 points (1.3%) in early trading to a high of 8896.6, following a robust session on Wall Street and a stabilisation in metals prices.

However, it trimmed these gains in anticipation of this afternoon's Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) meeting, which concluded with the central bank delivering its first interest rate hike in over two years and sounding a hawkish tone on a darkening inflation outlook.

In its statement, the RBA noted a material pickup in inflation during the second half of 2025, driven by capacity pressures and posing a risk that inflation would likely remain above its target for an extended period.

The bank further highlighted strengthening growth - particularly in private demand - alongside ongoing momentum in the housing market, a persistently tight labour market, and readily available credit to households and businesses.

Reinforcing its hawkish stance, the RBA's updated forecasts raised the end-2026 trimmed mean inflation projection to 3.2% (up from 2.7%) and marginally lowered the unemployment rate forecast to 1.8% (from 1.9%). The RBA’s implied cash rate for this period now suggests approximately 35 basis points (bp) of further hikes, pushing the rate towards 4.20%.

ASX 200 stocks

Materials sector

Brushing aside the rate hike, the ASX 200 materials sector largely held onto its gains, buoyed by a rebound in copper, silver, and gold prices overnight.

• Capstone Copper lifted 4.84% to $16.69
• Silver Mines jumped 4.55% to $0.23
• Newmont rebounded 5.81% to $165.03.

Rare earths stocks

Staying within the mining sector, ASX-listed rare earths companies surged after United States (US) President Trump outlined plans to stockpile critical minerals. With funding now secured from a mix of private capital and a $10 billion loan from the US Export-Import Bank, it is hoped this initiative will reduce reliance on China for these vital minerals.

• Larvotte Resources jumped 9.06% to $1.45
• Metallium lifted 8.02% to $0.87
• Brazilian Rare Earths rose 6.52% to $3.92.

Technology sector

Ahead of earnings reports this week from US tech giants Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Amazon, and Google, local IT stocks found a strong bid.

• Appen jumped 12.84% to $1.89, extending its gains after a strong quarterly report
• DroneShield rose 6.81% to $3.68
• Life 360 gained 3.54% to $28.50.

ASX 200 technical analysis

The ASX 200 last week encountered sellers operating ahead of trend channel resistance near the 9000 area before falling below trend channel support yesterday.

However, the rebound that followed today has allowed the ASX 200 to return to the safety of its upward sloping trend channel, from where it can continue its ascent towards the 9115.2 record high.

A break below trend channel support at 8800 and then below yesterday's 8746.2 low would cause technical damage and warn of a deeper pullback, initially to the 200-day moving average at 8667.

ASX 200 daily candlestick chart

• _{Source: TradingView. The figures stated are as of 3 February 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.}