‘Bullish tone’: ASX opens 2026 with modest gains after four-day slump

The Australian sharemarket has launched a “slightly bullish” start to the year, following a four-day consecutive decline at the end of 2025.

The S&P/ASX 200 closed up 13.50 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 8727.8 on the first day of trading for the year.

Markets opened cautiously on Friday morning, extending a four-session losing streak from late December, with the index slipping as much as 13 points in early trading.

However, the day ended positively for investors, driven in tandem by market movement in the Asia Pacific and a weaker US dollar.

The Australian dollar outperformed other currencies with an intraday gain of 0.4 per cent against the US dollar.

At close on Friday, the Australian dollar was trading at 67 US cents.

 

The weak start followed a lacklustre final week of 2025 that left the local market with its weakest annual gain in three years at just more than six per cent.

However, NAB director of SMSF and investor behaviour Gemma Dale said a quiet start to the year was to be expected, with momentum expected to pick up again next week when monthly inflation figures are released.

“It’s typically a quiet time of year,” she told NewsWire.

“It’s not when you do anticipate much activity. Realistically, there’s plenty for people to pay attention to starting next week.”

OANDA senior market analyst Kelvin Wong told NewsWire the market was trading on a “slightly bullish tone”.

“The ASX 200 is on track to end its four-day consecutive decline since 24 December 2025, which is a positive sign for the start of the trading year,” he told NewsWire.

“And today’s intraday gain of 0.16 per cent right at the 50-day moving average (8709) that has been providing intermediate support on the ASX200 since 24 December 2025 signifies a potential bullish reversal from a technical analysis standpoint.”

Mixed sector performance

Six of the 11 industry sectors were in the green at close of the first day of trading, led by energy which rose 0.63 per cent, followed by financials at 0.38 per cent and telecommunications, which gained 0.21 per cent.

Mining stocks remain under pressure, with Northern Star Resources plunging 8.6 per cent and Life360 falling 3.19 per cent.

“Northern Star was off pretty hard,” Ms Dale told NewsWire, following an operation update for the December 2025 quarter.

Capstone Copper, Dalrymple Bay Infrastructure, and Perseus Mining also shed ground.

The declines mirror weakness in global metals markets, with silver and gold prices retreating after strong gains in 2025.

In contrast, some metals and defence-related companies are leading the early gains.

Nickel Industries surged 7.78 per cent, DroneShield rose 8.12 per cent, Deep Yellow added 6.3 per cent, Paladin Energy gained 6.13 per cent, and Judo Capital increased 4.93 per cent.

The majority of companies in the ASX 200 were in the green on Friday afternoon, with 54 slipping into the red and 22 unchanged. 

Banks steady

The big four banks posted modest gains, with Commonwealth Bank up 0.34 per cent, Westpac 0.91 per cent, NAB 0.21 per cent, and ANZ 0.39 per cent.

With many traders still away for the new year, low volumes are contributing to more erratic price swings.

Analysts say attention will soon shift to domestic economic data, particularly the monthly inflation figures expected next week that could give investors clues on the trajectory of interest rates in 2026.

“Everyone gets back to work next week, like nothing ever happened,” Ms Dale told NewsWire.

“So that’s when the volumes will start to pick up.”

She said the bullish start to the year could be a positive sign of things to come for investors.

“Broadly speaking, economic activity is OK … so there’s plenty for people to be positive about this year,” she said.