Australia 200 stocks
Aviation stocks
Virgin Australia, newly listed, opened at $3.14, which is 14% above its initial public offering (IPO) price of $2.90, giving the airline a market valuation of approximately A$2.32 billion. Further details regarding Virgin Australia’s IPO and return to the ASX are provided here.
Virgin now holds about 34.4% of the domestic market compared to Qantas at 37.5%. Additionally, Virgin has hedged most of its 2026 fuel needs with a Brent cap of $70 per barrel, even as Bain Capital’s ownership stake decreases to 39.4%.
- Qantas rose 2.38% to $10.33, following a 7% overnight drop in Brent crude oil prices
- Virgin Australia traded at $3.14
Financial sector
Heavyweight banks led the rally, pushing the financials sector up 1.76% to a fresh record high of 9511.
Materials sector
Iron ore miners added support after Rio Tinto announced plans to develop Hope Downs 2 with Hancock Prospecting.
Energy sector
Energy stocks plunged as crude oil fell 0.8% to $66.69 – around 15% below yesterday’s peak of $78.40.
Consumer stocks
- Collins Foods soared 18.8% to $8.63 after topping earnings expectations
Australia 200 technical analysis
After the Australia 200 hit a new record high of 8639 earlier this month, we noted that the relative strength index (RSI) was at its most overbought level since December 2023 (which was followed by a 4% pullback).
The 2.5% pullback since then into yesterday’s 8421.1 low helped the index work off overbought readings and was very orderly, even begrudging, which indicates the move lower has been a correction rather than the start of an impulsive move lower.
In summary, provided the Australia 200 holds above support at 8420/8400 on a sustained basis, the view is that the correction from the 8639 high is complete at yesterday’s 8421.1 low and that a retest and break of the 8639 high will likely be forthcoming.
Australia 200 daily chart