Australia 200 afternoon report: 24 April 2025

The Australia 200 trades 43 points (0.55%) higher at 7963 as of 2.20pm AEDT.

Will the Australia 200 sustain its recovery as US-China trade tensions ease?

The Australia 200 is set to wrap up a holiday-shortened week near seven-week highs, for a second successive weekly gain of approximately 2%, as it continues its remarkable recovery from the dark depths of the 'Liberation Day' sell-down.

With only three trading sessions remaining, the Australia 200 is up 1.5% in April, on track to snap a two-month losing streak. This is a remarkable outcome after being down over 8.5% earlier in the month.

Cautious approach to trade negotiations

Behind today's gains, optimism surrounds an easing in United States (US)-China trade tensions and President Trump's confirmation that he is not looking to replace Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Powell.
Cautious approach to trade negotiations

While US and Australian equity markets responded positively to the overnight headlines, markets appear to have glossed over comments from Treasury Secretary Bessent, who noted that discussions with China had not yet commenced and would be a challenging process.

In 2020, China placed trade restrictions on several Australian exports in response to Australia's call for an independent investigation into the origins of Covid-19. These trade restrictions, which affected Australian exports like barley, wine, beef, and lobster, lasted nearly four years.

Why a quick resolution seems unlikely

With this experience fresh in mind and China more inclined to focus on the long game, making it highly unlikely that China will rush to hash out a trade deal after being singled out by the White House for 'special tariff treatment' several times in recent weeks.

Additionally, there are 76 days before the 9 July deadline for the 90-day pause on specific tariffs above the 10% baseline expires, with minimal progress reported for the 90 countries looking to negotiate a trade deal.

Australia 200 stocks

Financial sector

The financial sector, which tumbled over 19% from its February 9322 high, has now recovered almost two-thirds of those losses.

• Westpac Banking Corporation rose 2.33% to $32.15
• Australia and New Zealand Banking Group gained 1.37% to $28.79
• National Australia Bank increased 1.1% to $35.29
• Commonwealth Bank of Australia climbed 0.7% to $164.86

Mining sector

Major miners continue to regain ground post-tariff sell-down.

• Mineral Resources surged 5.5% to $18.16
• BHP Group rose 1.05% to $38.05, fully recovering its tariff-induced gap lower
• Rio Tinto advanced 0.95% to $114.91
• Fortescue Metals Group added 0.95% to $15.50

Uranium sector

The uranium sector remains lively.

• Paladin Energy soared 12.8% to $5.59, following a record quarterly production despite operational disruptions due to severe weather
• Deep Yellow climbed 9% to $1.01
• Bannerman Energy rose 7.2% to $2.09
• Silex Systems increased 5.7% to $2.78

Healthcare sector

Sleep disorder company, ResMed surged 7.25% to $35.66 after its strong Q3 trading update. For the three months to 31 March, ResMed reported an 8% increase in revenue to US$1.3 billion.

Insurance sector

In contrast, Generation Development Group, which became an ASX 200 company this week, dived 15.36% to $4.10 after its trading update missed expectations.

Australia 200 technical analysis

From its mid-February high of 8615, the Australia 200 fell 16.78% to its early April 7169 low, a move we have viewed as a correction rather than the onset of a new bear market.

The rebound above 7800 this week increases confidence that the correction from 8615 is complete at the 7169.2 low. From here, we look for the Australia 200 to spend some time (months) consolidating its rebound from the 7169 low broadly in a range between 8200 and 7650.

Australia 200 daily chart

• _{Source: TradingView. The figures stated are as of 24 April 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.}