ASX 200 Live Today - Friday, 19th December
The S&P/ASX 200 is set to bounce strongly thanks to cooler-than-expected US inflation data. Here are today's top stories.
Today’s ASX 200 Updates
Welcome to our live ASX coverage for Friday, December 19th. Expect a high volume of posts pre-market and more periodic updates throughout the day. It'll wrap up around 2:00 pm AEST. Be sure to refresh manually for the latest updates — and let us know how we can make it even better.
ASX 200 higher, still down for the week
[2:05 pm] ASX 200 currently up 0.40%, down from session highs of 0.69%. This is the first decent session we've seen since last Friday but the market is still on track to close 0.87% lower for the week. Risk appetite improving off the back of the cooler-than-expected US inflation print and better tech/AI sentiment. The market may also be coming to terms that the global easing cycle may very well be over (besides the Fed). The Australian 10-year yield is bouncing back, currently at 4.75% vs. the recent low of 4.70% and high of 4.82%. Tech stocks finally managed to catch a bid but the sector is still down ~27% since mid-September. More strength is needed to signal a bottom, as previous rallies have all been short-lived. The market continues to walk a narrow and selective path as we enter the seasonally most bullish part of the year. This is the last blog of the year, thanks for tuning in and I'll catch you all in 2026.
Federal Court hits ANZ with record ASIC penalties
[1:30 pm] Australia’s Federal Court has ordered ANZ to pay $250 million in combined penalties following findings of widespread misconduct and systemic risk failures. The breaches impacted the Australian Government, taxpayers and at least 65,000 retail customers, marking the largest penalties ASIC has ever secured against a single entity. You can read the ASIC media release here.
Company page: ANZ Group (ANZ)
CBA hits a one-month high
[12:43 pm] CBA has been trading sideways over the past few weeks in a relatively narrow range. While it's still down 12% from its early November peak, the stock managed to push through to a one-month high and pushing above its 20-day moving average.
CBA daily price chart (Source: TradingView)
Uranium stocks broadly higher
[12:36 pm] A relatively broad bounce for uranium stocks, in-line with the strength we're seeing across growth/risk-oriented pockets of the market. Most names (minus Boss) have trading sideways for the past two months.
Ticker | Company | % Chg | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
PDN | Paladin Energy | 6.79% | $8.89 |
DYL | Deep Yellow | 4.65% | $1.73 |
AGE | Alligator Energy | 4.55% | $0.02 |
BMN | Bannerman Energy | 4.14% | $3.02 |
NXG | Nexgen Energy | 3.92% | $12.98 |
LOT | Lotus Resources | 3.13% | $0.17 |
AEE | Aura Energy | 3.13% | $0.17 |
PEN | Peninsula Energy | -0.83% | $0.60 |
BOE | Boss Energy | -1.10% | $1.17 |
Downer secures long-dated NZ road maintenance work
[12:32 pm] Downer announced a major New Zealand road network maintenance contract after market open.
Awarded maintenance and operations contracts across four state highway regions in New Zealand, including 10-year terms in Central Waikato and Coastal Otago, and three-year terms in Taranaki and Tairawhiti.
Contracts commence in May 2026, providing long-dated exposure to essential road infrastructure services.
Downer estimates revenue of around NZ$870m from the Taranaki and Tairawhiti contracts plus the first five years of Central Waikato and Coastal Otago, subject to finalisation during negotiations.
Company page: Downer EDI (DOW)
Analysts' take on Boss Energy
[11:48 am] Boss Energy suffered sharp analyst revisions after Thursday's guidance update and new feasibility study. Here's what analysts are saying:
JPMorgan downgraded to Underweight, lowered target from $1.60 to $1.00. Cites strategic reset, limited near-term visibility, and higher FY27 sustaining costs.
Canaccord Genuity maintained Speculative Buy, lowered target from $3.50 to $2.25. Notes lower production ceiling, structurally higher AISC post-FY26, and unavoidable resource quality downgrade.
Corporate Travel Management CEO terminated, operations remain stable
[11:11 am] CTD has moved quickly to replace leadership in its UK and Europe operations while maintaining full operational capacity.
Michael Healy terminated as UK and Europe CEO for breach of contractual obligations, with Global COO Eleanor Noonan to act as interim CEO.
FY25 financial statements are still being finalised with KPMG, with an update on timing expected in February 2026.
CTD operations continue at full capacity with all client services, customer-facing teams and systems fully functional.
Company page: Corporate Travel Management (CTD)
Top ASX 200 gainers and losers
[10:29 am] Lots of beaten up growth/high beta stocks up 3-4% in early trade, while a long list of gold names take a breather.
Ticker | Company | % Chg | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
DRO | Droneshield | 7.23% | $2.67 |
LOV | Lovisa | 4.78% | $30.23 |
MSB | Mesoblast | 3.93% | $2.91 |
PDN | Paladin Energy | 3.85% | $8.64 |
NXG | Nexgen Energy | 3.68% | $12.95 |
PME | Pro Medicus | 3.64% | $222.68 |
CDA | Codan | 3.49% | $27.87 |
XRO | Xero | 3.41% | $116.90 |
TAH | Tabcorp | 3.30% | $1.00 |
SLX | Silex Systems | 3.14% | $7.56 |
Ticker | Company | % Chg | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
GMD | Genesis Minerals | -3.12% | $6.67 |
CMM | Capricorn Metals | -3.07% | $13.73 |
WAF | West African Resources | -2.81% | $2.77 |
NST | Northern Star Resources | -2.25% | $26.12 |
FBU | Fletcher Building | -1.70% | $3.19 |
NWL | Netwealth Group | -1.56% | $26.58 |
RSG | Resolute Mining | -1.50% | $1.18 |
ILU | Iluka Resources | -1.30% | $5.33 |
RMD | Resmed | -1.20% | $36.93 |
WDS | Woodside Energy Group | -1.18% | $22.53 |
ASX 200 higher as tech stocks bounce
[10:25 am] Tech stocks finally showing some signs of life, up 2.3% in early trade. Pretty solid sector breadth, with only Materials and Energy trading lower. ASX 200 up 0.48% in early trade, pushing intraday highs and currently back above the 200-day.
ASX 200 sectors (Source: Market Index)
Aeris Resources doubles SPP raise
[9:37 am] Aeris Resources’ share purchase plan was massively oversubscribed, prompting the company to increase the offer from $10 million to $21.6 million, with all valid applications accepted.
The company completed an $80 million placement on 31 October, with proceeds used to repay its WHSP loan facility and accelerate exploration/growth projects.
Company page: Aeris Resources (AIS)
Macquarie Securities admits misleading conduct
[9:32 am] Macquarie Securities has admitted to failing to correctly report at least 73 million short sales between December 2009 and February 2024, with total misreported trades estimated between 298 million and 1.5 billion.
ASIC is seeking to impose a penality of ... $35 million.
Company page: Macquarie Group (MQG)
Symal Group to acquire majority stake in Davison Earthmovers
[9:28 am] Symal Group will acquire an 80% stake in Davison Earthmovers for $23.2 million in cash, with founder Paul Davison retaining 20% and remaining active in the business.
"The acquisition delivers immediate scale and credibility for Symal in South Australia, a region with a $27.3 billion infrastructure pipeline over the next four years," the company said in the announcement.
The acquisition is expected to deliver annualised underlying EBITDA of ~$7m and be EPS accretive from the first year, with completion anticipated in the third quarter of 2026.
A pretty solid acquisition here. Not sure if the ~$7m figure is on a 100% basis, but values the business at just over 3x EBITDA. Symal reported normalised EBITDA of $106.1 million in FY25, so fairly material to earnings.
Company page: Symal Group (SYL)
Macquarie cuts Boss Energy target price by 36%
[9:24 am] Macquarie has slashed its target price for Boss Energy by 36% to $1.25 on lower long-term production, higher costs and a short mine life.
"Honeymoon is going to be a more challenging & unique asset for Boss to develop. A complicated proposition for investors. We believe investors should wait to see more definitive results from wider spaced leach trials first before making an investment decision," the analysts wrote in a note this morning.
On Thursday, Boss Energy suffered a 24% selloff after a lengthy update, which noted:
A Honeymoon Project review has "indicated an expected material and significant deviation from the assumptions underpinning the company's 2021 Enhanced Feasibility Study"
"This in turn would be expected to impact life of mine production and cost from FY27 onwards primarily due to less continuity of higher-grade mineralisation, mineralisation not overlapping, less leachability and smaller wellfields."
Boss guided to FY27 Honeymoon production to be similar to FY26 but AISC would be 15% higher year-on-year
Macquarie (Oct-25) was expecting production to grow 12.5% year-on-year to 1.8Mlb in FY26, with AISC to fall 5% to US$35.86/lb
Electro Optic Systems wins $32m North American order
[9:18 am] EOS has secured a new order for its R400 Remote Weapon System worth US$21m (~A$32m) for use on a Light Armoured Vehicle in North America.
The systems will be manufactured at EOS’s Canberra facility during 2026 and 2027, contributing to an unconditional contract backlog now exceeding A$400m, up from A$136m at 31 December 2024. Most of this backlog is expected to convert into revenue across 2026 and 2027.
Company page: Electro Optic Systems (EOS)
Southern Cross Electrical secures A$90m in new contracts
[9:13 am] Southern Cross Electrical Engineering subsidiaries have received awards totalling $90 million across renewable energy, education and water projects.
PLUS Grid Storage Partnership is progressing detailed engineering and final commercial stages for the Steel River East BESS project in Newcastle, expected to complete by mid-2027.
Heyday was awarded design and construct contracts for three ACT school projects.
Company page: Southern Cross Electrical Engineering (SXE)
Austal expands patrol boat program with ABF
[9:11 am] Austal has been awarded a contract extension to build two additional Evolved Cape-class Patrol Boats for the Australian Border Force, with the latest order valued at more than $135 million. The award lifts the total number of Evolved Cape-class vessels contracted to Austal to 14, reinforcing the scale and longevity of the program.
The last two sessions has been rather volatile for Austal:
Wednesday, 19 Dec: Shares dipped 11.4% after the White House was reportedly preparing an executive order to limit military contractors from undertaking buybacks, large dividends and executive compensation. The policy intent is tied to improving delivery performance rather than shareholder returns, which has a negative read through for Austal.
Thursday, 18 Dec: 5.0% bounce after securing a $1.03bn LCM (Landing Craft Medium) design and build contract for the Australian Army.
Company page: Austal (ASB)
Macmahon secures Pilbara growth contract
[9:06 am] Macmahon has added another new mining services contract, though its FY26 guidance remains unchanged.
Subsidiary Decmil was awarded an $81m contract by Rio Tinto to expand the Mobile Equipment Maintenance workshop at the Brockman 4 mine in the Pilbara.
Scope includes construction of a new MEM workshop, offices, bulk lube storage and an oily water system.
Project is scheduled to commence in early 2026 and complete by April 2027, supporting medium-term revenue visibility.
On Thursday, Macmahon announced a new three-year contract at Byerwen coking coal mine valued at $792 million as well as an award from Tilt Renewables valued at $51 million.
The stock has been on a massive run, basically doubled over the past four months from 30 to 60 cents.
Company page: Macmahon Holdings (MAH)
Caterpillar clears key hurdle in RPMGlobal takeover
[8:59 am] ACCC confirmed it will not oppose Caterpillar’s scheme of arrangement to acquire RPMGlobal. Caterpillar offered $5.00 per share (~32% premium) on 1 September, with the offer valuing the business at $1.1 billion.
This takeover likely saved RPM from a massive selloff, given most tech/software peers like Qoria, TechnologyOne, Catapult etc. are down 20-30% in the past few weeks.
Company page: RPMGlobal (RUL)
PeopleIn sharpens focus and lifts outlook
[8:55 am] PeopleIn is recycling capital out of non-core healthcare assets and pointing to a strengthening trading backdrop across its core labour segments.
Divesting First Choice Care and Edmen to Healthcare Australia for $20.3m.
Sale proceeds to be deployed for accretive acquisitions in Defence, Engineering, Trades and Labour.
1H26 normalised EBITDA guided to $15–16m vs. $19.3m in 1H25
Trading conditions improved in Q2, with Engineering, Trades and Labour tracking more than 15% organic growth.
Company page: PeopleIn (PPE)
A busy night for central banks
[8:48 am] Major central banks signalled a clear shift from aggressive easing to caution, with inflation risks receding but confidence in further cuts diminishing.
Norges Bank held rates at 4% and reiterated it is in no rush to cut, citing sticky underlying inflation at 3%, a weaker krone and explicit concern that moving too quickly could keep inflation above target.
Riksbank left rates unchanged at 1.75% and signalled an extended pause, reinforcing the theme that Nordic policymakers are stepping back from rapid easing despite softer growth.
European Central Bank held the deposit rate at 2% for a fourth straight meeting, upgraded parts of its inflation outlook, projected inflation back to target only in 2028 and stressed optionality, with markets increasingly pricing the next move as a hike rather than a cut.
Bank of England cut rates to 3.75% by a narrow 5–4 vote but struck a notably cautious tone, warning it is nearing the neutral rate, trimming market expectations for further easing and signalling the cutting cycle is close to its end.
US inflation cools sharply but data gaps temper policy impact
[8:45 am] US inflation (over two-month period from Sep-to-Nov) surprised meaningfully to the downside, reinforcing a disinflation trend but with limited immediate shift in rate-cut expectations due to data quality concerns.
Headline CPI slowed to 2.7% annualised from 3.0%, well below the 3.1% consensus.
Core CPI fell to 2.6% from 3.0%, the lowest core reading since March 2021.
The report is incomplete, with many month-on-month components missing due to the government shutdown, raising questions around data integrity and revisions risk.
Energy prices rose 4.2% year-on-year but offset by broad-based softness across food, discretionary goods, travel-related categories and shelter.
Shelter inflation eased to 3.0% year-on-year from 3.6%, marking the lowest shelter reading since August 2021 and a key contributor to the core slowdown.
Analysts read the data as clearly dovish, though Fed Funds futures showed only a marginal increase in January cut odds to 28%, suggesting the Fed remains cautious without cleaner data.
Micron brings life back to tech stocks
[8:43 am] Micron shares rallied 10.2% overnight after smashing quarterly earnings expectations.
Q1 revenue beat consensus by ~5.5% and EPS by ~21%
Q2 guidance was a step-change with revenue over 30% above consensus at the midpoint and EPS more than 75% higher.
DRAM pricing momentum is strong with blended ASPs up around 20%, reflecting tight supply and accelerating AI-driven mix shift.
HBM is sold out through FY26, HBM4 is expected to ramp with faster yields, and management now expects supply tightness to persist through 2026 and beyond.
FY26 capex was lifted by $2bn to $20bn to expand HBM capacity and manufacturing, reinforcing confidence in sustained demand rather than a short-cycle spike.
HBM total addressable market was raised to $100bn by 2028 from $35bn in 2025, pulling forward the growth trajectory by around two years.
Good morning!
[8:35 am] ASX 200 futures are up 43pts (+0.53%) as of 8:30 am AEDT.
The overnight session in a nutshell:
Major US benchmarks higher but struggled to hold intraday highs
S&P 500 up 0.79% vs. session high of 1.41%
Micron smashed Q1 earnings expectations, Q2 guidance well-ahead of consensus, management expect memory shortage to persist beyond 2026
US delayed CPI data highlighted Sep-to-Nov inflation of 2.7% vs. market expectations of 3.1%, though economists warn of flaws in the numbers due to missing data
Hi there! Kerry here. This is the last blog post for 2025, so I wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who's been reading, sharing feedback, and reaching out directly. The blog has grown massively this year, even picking up Google's 'Live' badge along the way. I genuinely hope it's added some value to your investing and trading journey. There's plenty to look forward to in 2026. We've got some much-needed upgrades coming (hello, refresh/notification button!) and plans to extend our coverage right through to market close. See you in the New Year!
