Sydney, Feb 27, 2026, 04:45 AEDT — Premarket
Friday looked set to start on a weak note for Australian shares, after the benchmark had managed yet another record finish. The SPI 200 futures contract—tracking the ASX 200—dipped early, last trading at 9,119.5, which put it roughly 56 points under Thursday’s S&P/ASX 200 closing level of 9,175.3. 1
Late in the week, equities caught a fresh bid even as local CPI stayed stuck at 3.8% year-on-year through January—unchanged, Michelle Marquardt at the ABS pointed out. Trimmed-mean inflation nudged higher, landing at 3.4%. Trades in rate swaps now price in an 82% chance the Reserve Bank of Australia keeps its cash rate at 3.85% in March, but those odds swing to a 70% chance of a hike by May. 2
The rally Thursday took its cue from miners and healthcare, with tech giving an extra jolt. BHP tacked on 2.2% and Rio Tinto climbed 3.7%. Ramsay Health Care shot up 10.4%, while Telix Pharmaceuticals spiked 10.9%, according to Trading Economics. 3
Choppy signals overseas. U.S. stocks slipped on Thursday, Nasdaq out in front with the losses after Nvidia’s results didn’t ignite another wave in tech. “Valuations,” according to Jake Johnston, portfolio manager at Advisors Asset Management, were the sticking point. 4
Thursday’s local standouts: Megaport surged 13.58%, posting the day’s sharpest advance. Telix notched an 11.09% rise, while Ramsay finished up 10.09%. On the downside, Worley sank 9.89%, Yancoal gave up 8.77%, and Qantas closed off 8.45%, market data from Investing.com showed. 5
Commodities saw a mixed session. Copper slipped off its two-week high, pressured by higher inventories and a stronger dollar—three-month copper on the LME edging down 0.1% to $13,304 a metric ton. Iron ore hovered close to $99 a ton in recent trading, keeping miners vulnerable if demand out of China shifts abruptly. 6
Star Entertainment drew attention after striking a non-binding term sheet with WhiteHawk Capital Partners, a U.S. private credit firm, for potential refinancing. The casino group cautioned there’s no guarantee the process will yield a final agreement. Aiming for a binding deal by the end of March, Star’s shares showed no movement as of the report. 7
Friday ramps up the earnings risk. TPG Telecom is set to report full-year numbers and unveil its dividend on Feb. 27, according to the company’s investor calendar. Star’s half-year results drop the same day, per its own schedule. 8
Coles is set to deliver its report on Friday, and investors will be sizing up its numbers after Woolworths’ solid first-half results landed earlier this week, IG noted in its earnings preview. 9
The record streak is looking shaky. A sharper U.S. tech pullback could sap risk appetite in a hurry, and if local rate-hike bets climb further, rate-sensitive corners of the ASX would feel it—especially with earnings season leaving little room for slip-ups.
Outside of corporate headlines, U.S. inflation clues are back in focus. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is set to publish January producer price data on Feb. 27 at 8:30 a.m. ET. 10
