Evening Wrap: ASX 200 ekes out eighth record of the year, CBA and BHP slip, US markets closed tonight

In a nutshell:

• The rest of the market managed to offset weakness from BHP and CBA, with both down around 1% on Friday

• Recent IPOs like Virgin and Gemlife are running out of steam and sliding back towards IPO offer prices

• US market closed tonight for Independence Day, this will likely result in relatively lighter volumes for European markets, and the ASX on Monday

Let's dive in.

ASX 200 Session Chart

ASX 200 closed up 7.2 points (Source: Market Index)

Markets

• ASX 200 eked out a small gain to mark its eighth record high of the year

• ASX 200 Materials Index (-0.97%) experienced a pullback after rallying 4.9% in the previous two sessions. The Index slipped back below its 200-day moving average, a key technical threshold it had just reclaimed on Thursday

• ASX 200 Financials (+0.14%) ticked higher as weakness from Commonwealth Bank (-1.0%) was partially offset by gains from the other Big Three Banks

• CBA finished the week down 3.97% to a two-week low and marked its worst weekly performance since early March

• Meanwhile ANZ, Westpac and NAB recorded weekly moves of +3.84%, -0.80% and -0.28% respectively

• Breadth was solid, with 122 S&P/ASX 200 constituents (61%) closing higher, while VanEck’s Australian Equal-weight ETF outperformed the official benchmark by 10 bps

• Overall, this session continues to highlight the market's mixed performance around record highs. While retail and defensive sectors (Real Estate, Health Care, and Staples) delivered solid gains, the heavyweight duo of CBA and BHP continued their volatile dance. There's some volatility beneath the surface, with risk barometers like Zip (-0.9%) and Droneshield (-4.8%) traded choppily, while recent IPOs took a beating with Virgin falling 2.6% and Gemlife plunging 5.7%.

Economy

No major economic announcements.

Latest News

Interesting Movers

Trading higher

• +14.39% RPM Global (RUL) – Trading update

• +13.62% Fineos Corporation (FCL) – No news

• +9.68% Botanix Pharmaceuticals (BOT) – No news

• +8.94% Praemium (PPS) – Fund administrator move, with Hub24 and Netwealth also trading higher

• +8.87% Orthocell (OCC) – No news

• +8.11% Heartland Group Holdings (HGH) – No news

• +7.56% EBR Systems (EBR) – No news

Trading lower

• -6.47% Gemlife Communities (GLF) – Post IPO pullback

• -6.22% Chalice Mining (CHN) – Resource sector pullback

• -6.11% MTM Critical Metals (MTM) – No news

• -5.56% Dateline Resources (DTR) – No news

• -5.23% Zimplats Holdings (ZIM) – Resource sector pullback

• -4.05% Droneshield (DRO) – No news

Broker notes

Aussie Broadband (ABB)

• Retained at Buy at Ord Minnett; Price Target: $4.55 from $4.54

Australian Finance Group (AFG)

• Downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citi; Price Target: $2.10 from $1.85

Alligator Energy (AGE)

• Retained at Speculative buy at Bell Potter; Price Target: $0.07 from $0.10

Auckland International Airport (AIA)

• Retained at Neutral at E&P; Price Target: $6.48 from $6.68

Amotiv (AOV)

• Retained at Outperform at Macquarie; Price Target: $10.90

• Retained at Buy at UBS; Price Target: $12.60

Eagers Automotive (APE)

• Retained at Outperform at Macquarie; Price Target: $20.35

• Retained at Neutral at UBS; Price Target: $18.00 from $17.50

Alliance Aviation Services (AQZ)

• Retained at Buy at Ord Minnett; Price Target: $3.70

ARB Corporation (ARB)

• Upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citi; Price Target: $38.70 from $39.54

• Retained at Outperform at Macquarie; Price Target: $45.40

• Retained at Sell at UBS; Price Target: $34.00

Autosports Group (ASG)

• Retained at Outperform at Macquarie; Price Target: $2.00

• Retained at Neutral at UBS; Price Target: $3.10 from $1.80

Aurizon Holdings (AZJ)

• Retained at Neutral at E&P; Price Target: $3.42 from $3.40

Bellevue Gold (BGL)

• Retained at Outperform at RBC Capital Markets; Price Target: $1.40 from $1.60

Boss Energy (BOE)

• Downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $4.20 from $3.80

Beach Energy (BPT)

• Retained at Neutral at Macquarie; Price Target: $1.35 from $1.25

Capricorn Metals (CMM)

• Retained at Buy at Canaccord Genuity; Price Target: $10.60

Coronado Global Resources Inc (CRN)

• Retained at Neutral at UBS; Price Target: $0.17 from $0.19

Dalrymple Bay Infrastructure (DBI)

• Retained at Positive at E&P; Price Target: $4.66 from $4.35

Domino's Pizza Enterprises (DMP)

• Downgraded to Sell from Positive at Citi; Price Target: $14.20 from $23.82

• Retained at Neutral at UBS; Price Target: $25.00

Deep Yellow (DYL)

• Initiated at Neutral at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $1.80

Evolution Mining (EVN)

• Retained at Underperform at RBC Capital Markets; Price Target: $6.70 from $6.80

• Retained at Sell at UBS; Price Target: $6.70

Fortescue (FMG)

• Retained at Neutral at UBS; Price Target: $16.20 from $15.10

FleetPartners Group (FPR)

• Retained at Outperform at Macquarie; Price Target: $3.77

Gold Road Resources (GOR)

• Retained at Sector perform at RBC Capital Markets; Price Target: $3.40 from $3.50

HUB24 (HUB)

• Retained at Buy at Bell Potter; Price Target: $100.00 from $75.00

Insurance Australia Group (IAG)

• Retained at Neutral at Macquarie; Price Target: $9.20 from $8.70

Iluka Resources (ILU)

• Retained at Overweight at Morgan Stanley; Price Target: $4.65

Jumbo Interactive (JIN)

• Retained at Hold at Bell Potter; Price Target: $11.00 from $11.10

Lynas Rare Earths (LYC)

• Retained at Sell at Bell Potter; Price Target: $6.05 from $6.25

Mineral Resources (MIN)

• Retained at Neutral at UBS; Price Target: $26.00 from $25.70

Monadelphous Group (MND)

• Retained at Neutral at Citi; Price Target: $16.65

Monash IVF Group (MVF)

• Retained at Speculative buy at Morgans; Price Target: $1.00

Northern Star Resources (NST)

• Retained at Sector perform at RBC Capital Markets; Price Target: $22.00 from $27.00

NRW Holdings (NWH)

• Retained at Buy at Citi; Price Target: $3.65

NEXTDC (NXT)

• Retained at Buy at Citi; Price Target: $18.70

Paladin Energy (PDN)

• Upgraded to Neutral at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $8.15 from $7.10

• Retained at Buy at UBS; Price Target: $9.40

Pro Medicus (PME)

• Downgraded to Hold from Buy at Bell Potter; Price Target: $320.00 from $280.00

• Retained at Buy at Goldman Sachs; Price Target: $310.00 from $309.00

• Retained at Overweight at Morgan Stanley; Price Target: $320.00 from $310.00

• Downgraded to Trim from Add at Morgans; Price Target: $280.00 from $250.00

• Upgraded to Hold from Sell at Ord Minnett; Price Target: $305.00 from $140.00

• Retained at Sector perform at RBC Capital Markets; Price Target: $350.00 from $220.00

Pepper Money (PPM)

• Downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citi; Price Target: $1.75 from $1.55

Praemium (PPS)

• Retained at Buy at Bell Potter; Price Target: $1.00

Ramelius Resources (RMS)

• Retained at Sector perform at RBC Capital Markets; Price Target: $2.70 from $3.00

Regis Resources (RRL)

• Retained at Outperform at RBC Capital Markets; Price Target: $5.30 from $6.00

St Barbara (SBM)

• Retained at Sector perform at RBC Capital Markets; Price Target: $0.60

Steadfast Group (SDF)

• Retained at Outperform at Macquarie; Price Target: $6.80 from $7.00

• Retained at Outperform at Macquarie; Price Target: $7.00 from $6.80

Sandfire Resources (SFR)

• Retained at Buy at UBS; Price Target: $13.15

Smartgroup Corporation (SIQ)

• Retained at Outperform at Macquarie; Price Target: $9.06

Suncorp Group (SUN)

• Upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Macquarie; Price Target: $19.60 from $1.75

Southern Cross Gold Consolidated (SX2)

• Downgraded to Sector perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets; Price Target: $6.20 from $4.80

Syrah Resources (SYR)

• Retained at Neutral at UBS; Price Target: $0.30

The Lottery Corporation (TLC)

• Downgraded to Sell from Buy at Citi; Price Target: $5.00 from $5.60

Vault Minerals (VAU)

• Retained at Buy at Argonaut Securities; Price Target: $0.70 from $0.80

• Initiated at Overweight at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $0.68

• Retained at Buy at Euroz Hartleys; Price Target: $0.67

• Retained at Outperform at Macquarie; Price Target: $0.63 from $0.57

• Upgraded to Outperform from Sector perform at RBC Capital Markets; Price Target: $0.55

VBX (VBX)

• Initiated at Speculative buy at Morgans; Price Target: $1.60

Westgold Resources (WGX)

• Retained at Outperform at RBC Capital Markets; Price Target: $4.30 from $4.60

Whitehaven Coal (WHC)

• Retained at Neutral at UBS; Price Target: $6.30 from $5.15

Scans