Evening Wrap: ASX 200 steadies despite banks sliding further; iron ore and miners to the rescue

The S&P/ASX 200 closed 9.0 points higher, up 0.1.%.

In a nutshell:

• ASX 200 ekes out a modest, nine-point gain after yesterday's tumble

• Selling pressure in the banks continued

• Miners came to the rescue on the back of five-month high for iron ore

Let's dive in.

ASX 200 Session Chart

ASX 200 closed up 9.0 points (Source: Market Index)

Markets

• Sector divergence: Materials sector surged on iron ore gains while financials posted their worst performance in seven weeks, highlighting stark sectoral rotation

• Financials (-1.65%) were the worst performers again, on further bank weakness; Commonwealth Bank plunged 3.1% in its biggest single-session drop since April, bringing total decline from recent peak to 9.9% - just 0.1% shy of technical correction territory

• Telecommunications (-0.42%) and consumer dictionary (-0.40%) were also weaker.

• Materials rally: Major miners posted strong gains with Rio Tinto rising 3.4%, Fortescue adding 3.3%, and BHP gaining 2.6% as iron ore prices hit five-month highs on China's massive Tibet dam project

• Healthcare bounce: CSL extended its monthly rally with a 3.4% gain, reaching its highest level since March despite looming US pharmaceutical tariff threats

• Gold miners shine: Ramelius Resources surged 8.1% in its best day in 15 weeks as gold hit five-week highs amid rising risk aversion ahead of US tariff deadlines

• Corporate activity: Insignia Financial jumped 12.2% after CC Capital agreed to acquire the wealth manager for $3.3 billion at $4.80 per share

Economy

• RBA dovish division: Minutes showed three board members favoured a rate cut in July, placing "more weight on downside risks to the economic outlook" from slowing global growth and subdued domestic GDP

• Policy framework shift: The majority argued against cutting for a third time in four meetings, stating it would be "unlikely to be consistent with the strategy of easing monetary policy in a cautious and gradual manner"

• Inflation monitoring upgrade: Australian Bureau of Statistics announced plans to expand monthly CPI data from November to include full basket of goods and services, potentially allowing RBA to adjust rates sooner

Interesting Movers

Trading higher

• +12.01% Pantoro Gold Ltd (PNR) – Gold price rally

• +12.50% Ioneer Ltd (INR) – Agrees to takeover

• +12.21% Insignia Financial Ltd (IFL) – TBC Add News

• +11.11% Dateline Resources Ltd (DTR) – Momentum rally, attempted breakout

• +11.1% QORIA Ltd (QOR) – Quarterly update

• +9.33% IMDEX Ltd (IMD) – No news

• +8.60% West African Resources Ltd (WAF) – Gold price rally

Trading lower

• -15.63% Strike Energy Ltd (STX) – Placement

• -9.3% Syrah Resources Ltd (SYR) – Rally stalling

• -9.20% Metallium Ltd (MTM) – Rally stalling

• -7.64% Larvotto Resources Ltd (LRV) – No news

Broker Notes

AIC Mines (A1M)

• Retained at Buy at Shaw and Partners; Price Target: $0.70

Aeris Resources (AIS)

• Retained at Outperform at Macquarie; Price Target: $0.27 from $0.28

AML3D (AL3)

• Retained at Buy at Shaw and Partners; Price Target: $0.40

Ampol (ALD)

• Retained at Neutral at Macquarie; Price Target: $27.50 from $23.50

Aurelia Metals (AMI)

• Retained at Outperform at Macquarie; Price Target: $0.27 from $0.25

• Retained at Buy at Ord Minnett; Price Target: $0.31

AMP (AMP)

• Retained at Buy at Citi; Price Target: $1.90 from $1.65

• Downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs; Price Target: $1.60 from $1.40

• Downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies; Price Target: $1.80 from $1.55

• Retained at Neutral at JPMorgan; Price Target: $1.55 from $1.40

• Downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie; Price Target: $1.70 from $1.44

• Retained at Overweight at Morgan Stanley; Price Target: $1.62

• Retained at Buy at Ord Minnett; Price Target: $1.85 from $1.63

• Retained at Neutral at UBS; Price Target: $1.70 from $1.35

Arena REIT (ARF)

• Retained at Neutral at UBS; Price Target: $4.19

Bega Cheese (BGA)

• Retained at Outperform at Macquarie; Price Target: $6.40

Bellevue Gold (BGL)

• Retained at Neutral at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $1.15

BHP Group (BHP)

• Retained at Neutral at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $41.00

Boss Energy (BOE)

• Upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $4.10

BWP Trust (BWP)

• Retained at Buy at UBS; Price Target: $4.16

Charter Hall Group (CHC)

• Retained at Sell at UBS; Price Target: $18.41

Centuria Industrial REIT (CIP)

• Retained at Buy at UBS; Price Target: $3.92

Collins Foods (CKF)

• Retained at Neutral at Macquarie; Price Target: $8.50 from $8.40

Charter Hall Long Wale REIT (CLW)

• Retained at Neutral at UBS; Price Target: $4.33

Capricorn Metals (CMM)

• Retained at Overweight at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $11.00

Centuria Capital Group (CNI)

• Retained at Neutral at UBS; Price Target: $1.81

Coles Group (COL)

• Retained at Buy at Citi; Price Target: $23.00 from $21.00

• Retained at Outperform at Macquarie; Price Target: $24.10 from $23.10

Charter Hall Retail REIT (CQR)

• Retained at Buy at Citi; Price Target: $4.20 from $4.00

• Retained at Neutral at UBS; Price Target: $3.95

Coronado Global Resources Inc (CRN)

• Retained at Underweight at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $0.19

Capstone Copper Corp. (CSC)

• Retained at Overweight at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $12.00

Core Lithium (CXO)

• Retained at Neutral at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $0.11

Domino's Pizza Enterprises (DMP)

• Retained at Neutral at Macquarie; Price Target: $18.40 from $30.50

Deterra Royalties (DRR)

• Retained at Neutral at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $4.30

Dexus (DXS)

• Retained at Buy at UBS; Price Target: $8.84

Deep Yellow (DYL)

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

Endeavour Group (EDV)

• Downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Macquarie; Price Target: $3.80 from $4.10

Emerald Resources NL (EMR)

• Retained at Underweight at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $4.00

Evolution Mining (EVN)

• Retained at Underweight at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $7.60 from $7.50

FireFly Metals (FFM)

• Retained at Overweight at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $1.60

Fortescue (FMG)

• Retained at Overweight at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $20.00

Greatland Resources (GGP)

• Initiated at Overweight at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $11.00

• Upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citi; Price Target: $8.00

Global Lithium Resources (GL1)

• Retained at Neutral at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $0.20

Goodman Group (GMG)

• Retained at Buy at UBS; Price Target: $36.00

GPT Group (GPT)

• Retained at Neutral at UBS; Price Target: $5.40 from $5.29

HomeCo Daily Needs REIT (HDN)

• Retained at Neutral at UBS; Price Target: $1.40

HMC Capital (HMC)

• Retained at Buy at UBS; Price Target: $8.00 from $12.40

Hansen Technologies (HSN)

• Retained at Overweight at Morgan Stanley; Price Target: $6.50

Harvey Norman Holdings (HVN)

• Retained at Outperform at Macquarie; Price Target: $5.90 from $5.50

IGO (IGO)

• Retained at Overweight at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $5.20

Imdex (IMD)

• Upgraded to Buy from Hold at Bell Potter; Price Target: $3.05 from $2.65

Ingenia Communities Group (INA)

• Retained at Neutral at UBS; Price Target: $6.10 from $6.30

Inghams Group (ING)

• Downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie; Price Target: $3.70 from $3.50

JB Hi-Fi (JBH)

• Retained at Buy at Citi; Price Target: $120.00 from $110.00

• Downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie; Price Target: $112.00 from $111.00

Lifestyle Communities (LIC)

• Retained at Buy at UBS; Price Target: $8.83

LendLease Group (LLC)

• Retained at Neutral at UBS; Price Target: $6.05

Liontown Resources (LTR)

• Retained at Underweight at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $0.45

Meteoric Resources NL (MEI)

• Retained at Overweight at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $0.15

• Retained at Speculative buy at Ord Minnett; Price Target: $0.20

Mirvac Group (MGR)

• Retained at Neutral at UBS; Price Target: $2.32 from $2.28

Mineral Resources (MIN)

• Retained at Overweight at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $31.00

Metcash (MTS)

• Downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie; Price Target: $4.00

Newmont Corporation (NEM)

• Retained at Overweight at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $115.00

Nickel Industries (NIC)

• Retained at Buy at UBS; Price Target: $0.95 from $0.89

National Storage REIT (NSR)

• Retained at Buy at UBS; Price Target: $2.57

Northern Star Resources (NST)

• Retained at Neutral at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $20.50

Origin Energy (ORG)

• Retained at Neutral at Macquarie; Price Target: $10.94

Paladin Energy (PDN)

• Retained at Neutral at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $8.15

Pilbara Minerals (PLS)

• Retained at Underweight at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $1.15

Pro Medicus (PME)

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

Patriot Battery Metals Inc. (PMT)

• Retained at Speculative buy at Canaccord Genuity; Price Target: $0.55

• Retained at Buy at Citi; Price Target: $0.50 from $0.35

Pantoro Gold (PNR)

• Retained at Hold at Argonaut Securities; Price Target: $3.10 from $3.00

• Retained at Speculative buy at Canaccord Genuity; Price Target: $3.75

• Upgraded to Speculative buy from UNKNOWN at Euroz Hartleys; Price Target: $3.72 from $3.33

• Retained at Buy at Goldman Sachs; Price Target: $3.70 from $3.55

• Retained at Buy at Moelis Australia; Price Target: $4.00 from $3.50

• Retained at Buy at Ord Minnett; Price Target: $4.00 from $3.55

Perenti (PRN)

• Upgraded to Buy from UNKNOWN at Argonaut Securities; Price Target: $2.20 from $2.00

• Downgraded to Hold from Buy at Bell Potter; Price Target: $1.80

• Retained at Outperform at Macquarie; Price Target: $1.52

Perseus Mining (PRU)

• Retained at Neutral at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $3.90

RAM Essential Services Property Fund (REP)

• Retained at Buy at UBS; Price Target: $0.75

Rural Funds Group (RFF)

• Retained at Neutral at UBS; Price Target: $1.89 from $1.84

Region Group (RGN)

• Retained at Neutral at UBS; Price Target: $2.35 from $2.30

Regis Resources (RRL)

• Initiated at Underweight at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $4.30

• Retained at Hold at Bell Potter; Price Target: $4.60 from $4.82

• Retained at Hold at Canaccord Genuity; Price Target: $4.25 from $4.35

• Downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Citi; Price Target: $3.80 from $4.10

• Retained at Sell at Goldman Sachs; Price Target: $4.20 from $4.25

• Downgraded to Overweight from UNKNOWN at JPMorgan; Price Target: $4.90

• Retained at Neutral at Macquarie; Price Target: $4.50 from $4.60

• Upgraded to Neutral from Sell at UBS; Price Target: $4.60 from $4.75

Rox Resources (RXL)

• Retained at Speculative buy at Canaccord Genuity; Price Target: $0.67 from $0.61

South32 (S32)

• Retained at Overweight at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $3.95 from $3.90

• Retained at Neutral at Goldman Sachs; Price Target: $2.80 from $2.90

• Retained at Buy at Jefferies; Price Target: $3.40

• Retained at Outperform at Macquarie; Price Target: $3.40

• Retained at Overweight at Morgan Stanley; Price Target: $3.55 from $3.50

• Retained at Buy at Ord Minnett; Price Target: $3.95 from $3.90

• Retained at Outperform at RBC Capital Markets; Price Target: $3.50 from $3.70

Scentre Group (SCG)

• Retained at Neutral at UBS; Price Target: $3.82

Stockland (SGP)

• Retained at Neutral at UBS; Price Target: $5.55 from $5.37

Sigma Healthcare (SIG)

• Retained at Underperform at Macquarie; Price Target: $2.60 from $2.70

Superloop (SLC)

• Retained at Overweight at Morgan Stanley; Price Target: $3.35 from $2.65

Super Retail Group (SUL)

• Retained at Neutral at Macquarie; Price Target: $11.00 from $10.50

Treasury Wine Estates (TWE)

• Retained at Neutral at Macquarie; Price Target: $8.40 from $8.50

Vicinity Centres (VCX)

• Retained at Sell at UBS; Price Target: $2.38

Woodside Energy Group (WDS)

• Retained at Neutral at Citi; Price Target: $21.50

Wesfarmers (WES)

• Retained at Sell at Citi; Price Target: $60.00

• Retained at Neutral at Macquarie; Price Target: $82.00 from $80.00

Woolworths Group (WOW)

• Retained at Outperform at Macquarie; Price Target: $33.40 from $33.60

Scans