Australia 200 afternoon report: 6 March 2025

The Australia 200 trades 63 points (-0.78%) lower at 8077 as of 1.30pm AEDT.

Australia 200 drops despite upbeat Wall Street

The Australia 200 is on track for its eleventh decline in the last 14 sessions, a disappointing performance despite a strong session on Wall Street overnight that failed to lift the spirits of the local market.

Wall Street's rally came after President Donald Trump's announcement of a one-month exemption on auto tariffs for Mexico and Canada, alongside an unexpected rise in the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Services purchasing managers' index (PMI) to 53.5 in February from 52.8, beating the forecast of 52.6.

Global developments fail to boost sentiment

The underperformance of the Australia 200 is more disappointing given a trio of unexpectedly positive news flows this week to counter tariff headlines:

• Germany's surprise announcement of a larger-than-expected fiscal package proposal now anticipated to exceed 1 trillion euros
• China's National People's Congress (NPC) reiterated its 5% gross domestic product (GDP) growth target and announced a modest fiscal expansion focusing on accelerating artificial intelligence (AI) adoption and autonomous driving
• Australia's fourth quarter (Q4) GDP suggests growth has bottomed, and the Australian economy can reach the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) average growth forecast of 2.1% for 2025.

Australia 200 stocks

Energy sector

The Australia 200 energy sector has fallen 5.9% this week, reaching its lowest level since January 2022, as crude oil struggles with a mix of tariffs, United States (US) growth concerns, the potential lifting of US sanctions on Russia, and Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Plus (OPEC+) opting to increase output.

• Woodside Energy fell 5.1% to $22.89 after going ex-dividend
• AGL Energy lost 3.37% to $10.19
• Ampol declined 2% to $24.61
• Santos fell 2.1% to $6.13

Financial sector

The Australia 200 financial sector is slipping ever closer to its February low after reporting season burst the bubble of the big banks.

• Macquarie dropped 0.57% to $220.17
• Westpac fell 0.6% to $31.35
• Commonwealth Bank of Australia declined 0.58% to $155.44
• National Australia Bank decreased 0.5% to $34.38
• Australia and New Zealand Banking Group edged down 0.2% to $29.31

Mining sector

The big miners have had a mixed day.

• Mineral Resources surged 4.5% to $22.05
• Fortescue added 1.13% to $16.11
• Rio Tinto fell 1.7% to $115.52 after going ex-dividend
• BHP lost 1.04% to $39.13

Technology sector

The information technology (IT) sector is the only sector trading in positive territory, inspired by the US Tech 100's 1.36% rally overnight.

• DroneShield surged 5.3% to $0.83
• Seek added 1% to $24.40
• WiseTech Global has managed a 0.86% bounce to $91.82

Australia 200 technical analysis

The Australia 200 has broken below our key support band at 8150 – 8100 and is eyeing the 8060 – 8050 support area, which includes the 8063 low of November 2024 and the December 8051 low.

A sustained break below 8060 – 8050 and then below the psychologically important 8000 level, would open the way for the sell-off to extend towards 7600.

Australia 200 daily chart

• _{Source: TradingView. The figures stated are as of 6 March 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.}