ASX 200 afternoon report: 10 October 2024

The ASX 200 trades 34 points (0.42%) higher at 8222 at 2.00pm AEST.

Wall Street's influence

The ASX 200 is defying its recent trend of losing steam after early gains, attempting to hold above 8200.

A robust performance on Wall Street overnight set the tone for today's optimism. Both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones reached fresh record closing highs, boosting sentiment in Chinese stock markets.

China's announcements

The optimism in China was fuelled by two critical announcements from authorities over the last 24 hours. Just before the ASX 200 closed yesterday, China’s Finance Ministry announced a briefing planned for Saturday, 12 October. They intend to introduce strategies aimed at "strengthening the counter-cyclical adjustment of fiscal policy" and will answer questions from reporters.

Although the Ministry of Finance oversees fiscal policy, any significant actions—such as increasing the fiscal deficit or raising the debt ceiling—require approval from the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, whose next meeting is expected late October.

Adding to the upbeat mood, Chinese authorities continued their dovish approach from late September by announcing a 500 billion yuan swap facility today. Eligible brokers and insurers can pledge assets, like bonds, stock exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and shares listed on the China Securities Index (CSI) 300, in exchange for liquid assets like Treasury bonds from the central bank.

ASX 200 stocks

Mining sector

Encouraged by the return of positivity towards China, the big miners have springboarded higher.

• Mineral Resources gained 2.8% to $49.27
• Fortescue climbed 1.7% to $19.29
• BHP increased by 0.44% to $43.48
• Rio Tinto rose 0.46% to $118.78

Energy sector

Energy stocks gained as the price of crude oil appears to be settling in a new higher range above $71.50 and below $78.00 courtesy of ongoing tensions in the Middle East.

• Beach Energy climbed 1.83% to $1.25
• Woodside Energy rose 1.27% to $15.88
• Strike Energy grew 1.06% to $0.23
• Santos increased by 0.56% to $7.16

Financial sector

The heavyweight financial sector gained following yesterday's stunning 6.2% surge in the Westpac Consumer Confidence Index for October to 89.80.

• Macquarie added 1.19% to $232.85
• ANZ rose 0.93% to $30.51
• CBA climbed 0.72% to $136.60
• Westpac increased 0.30% to $31.11
• NAB edged up 0.07% to $37.49

Property sector

Rounding out a positive session, the property sector rebounded after falling in three of the last four sessions.

• Centuria Capital soared 3.05% to $2.02
• Goodman Group gained 1.46% to $36.83
• Mirvac added 1.14% to $2.21
• Lend Leaseedged higher by 0.57% to $7.01

ASX 200 technical analysis

Today, the ASX 200 reached a high of 8242.80, just shy of the 20 September high of 8246.20 and the 30 September record high of 8285.70. If the index slips below the 8250.00 resistance area, it could be forming the right shoulder of a classic head-and-shoulders topping pattern.

A sustained break below the neckline around 8105.00 would confirm the pattern and suggest a potential decline towards support at 7920.00/7900.00. Keep an eye on this in the sessions ahead.

ASX 200 daily chart

• _{Source: TradingView. The figures stated are as of 10 October 2024. 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.}