AAP Finance

Australian shares stem losses on course for losing week

By AAP Newswire

Sep 19, 2025

ASX — Gains for Australian shares in morning trade on Friday were not enough to avoid another losing week. -AAP Image

Australia's share market is on track for a third week of losses despite a late broad-based bounce.

Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 rose 59.8 points, or 0.68 per cent, to 8,805, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 62.9 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 9,094.6.

The shift comes after Wall Street's three main indexes reached all new highs, led by the tech sector a day after the US Federal Reserve cut its target interest rate.

Despite the Friday morning gains, the Australian bourse remains headed for a third straight week of losses in a pullback that could actually be healthy, according to IG Markets analyst Tony Sycamore.

"The heavy fall in the ASX200 at the start of this month and the subsequent price action has helped the ASX200 to work off overbought readings after its never-ending run of new highs in August," he said.

Ten of 11 sectors were trading higher by midday, led by health care and utilities which each jumped more than two per cent after selling off on Thursday.

Financials stocks rebounded 0.6 per cent, led by CBA and NAB which each gained more than 0.8 per cent, while Westpac swung one per cent in the other direction.

ANZ edged 0.1 per cent higher to $32.92 as Morgan Stanley lifted its price target for the bank from $29.70 to $30.50.

Energy stocks advanced one per cent after tanking almost six per cent on Thursday following Abu Dhabi scrapping its takeover bid for gas producer Santos, whose shares were trading at $6.83 at midday after shedding 12 per cent of their value on Thursday.

The raw materials sector gained 0.3 per cent, with large cap miners BHP and Fortescue edging either side of neutral as Rio Tinto slipped 0.4 per cent.

Iron ore prices continued to grind lower from six-month highs of the previous week, but futures are so far holding ground above $US105 a tonne.

Gold miners were broadly flat with bullion trading around $US3,640 ($A5,513) an ounce, slipping almost two per cent from a record peak a day earlier.

Australia's tech sector traded 1.1 per cent higher, tracking with the strong performance in Wall Street's Nasdaq overnight, as Life360 continued to lead the local sector, up 3.7 per cent to $52.11.

The Australian dollar is buying 66.02 US cents, fading from 66.22 US cents on Thursday at 5pm and continuing to slip from an 11-month high above 67 US cents the night before.