Friday 13th February – ASX 200 drops 126 – Up 2.4% this week – All Banks – COH smacked – NCK falls – Results dominate!

13 Friday Feb 2026

Posted by in Daily Reports

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The ASX 200 lived up to its new Friday ‘free fall’ and dropped 126 points to 8925 (1.4%). Friday the 13th. Banks gave back some ground today as WBC delivered numbers in line. The Big Bank Basket drooped to $303.62(-1.0%). ANZ continued 1.3% higher on broker upgrades. Financials were sold down again, HUB off 4.1% and MQG falling 0.9% with GQG bucking the trend on better-than-expected results. ZIP fell hard as a tech stock should, down 8.5%. Insurers eased back. IAG the exception after results, up 1.0%. REITs were slightly firmer, GMG rallied 2.4% and SCG up 1.6%. Healthcare back in A&E with RMD down another % and CSL slipping 1.4%. COH fell 18.9% on results hitting deaf ears, as it downgraded guidance. Industrials were a sea of red, SGH off 2.7%, QAN down 1.2% and ALL down 5.0%. Utilities found friends on defensive buying. Technology stocks once again sold back into the bronze age, WTC down 10.4% and XRO falling 4.5%. The All-Tech Index losing another 4.7%.

Resources were also a sea of red, gold miners slid with NST off 3.5% and EVN giving 3.7% back. BHP down 1.8% on lower copper pricing, RIO holding firm and lithium stocks depressed. Energy stocks needing a boost, WDS down 2.1% and uranium seeing some fallout.

In corporate news, the bid for WJL came undone, the stock dropping 25.2%. NCK punished on LFL sales miss, down 22.2% %, ASB sunk 22.8% after some double counting revealed after the close last night.

In economic news, CBA says the neutral cash rate is now 3.6%. Pretty much the same as inflation, so that is easy to work out then. Australian households were in spending mode over summer. The latest CommBank Household Spending Insights Index shows spending rose 0.5% in January, marking 16 consecutive months of growth.

Standard Chartered warned of further bitcoin weakness and the largest US crypto exchange swung to a loss in the fourth quarter.

US futures Dow down 20 and Nasdaq down 10.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Winners: AMP, GQG, ORG, ARU, NXT, JMS
  • Losers: ASB, NCK, COH, EQR, WTC, 360, SDR
  • Positive Sectors: REITs. Utilities.
  • Negative Sectors: Tech. Healthcare. Gold miners.
  • ASX 200 Hi 8985 Lo 8911. Up 2.4% this week. Not too shabby.
  • Big Bank Basket: Eases to $303.62(-1.0%).
  • All-Tech Index: Down 4.7% Again.
  • Gold: Off lows at $7028
  • Bitcoin: Falls to US$66352
  • AUD: Falls to 70.72c.
  • Asian markets – Japan down 0.7% – HK down 1.8% and China down 0.8%. Lunar NY next week.
  • US futures Dow down 20 and Nasdaq down 2

MARKET MOVERS

  • AMP +9.0% solid bounce.
  • GQG +7.8% results please for once.
  • ORG +5.0% broker upgrades.
  • NXT +3.7% nice bounce.
  • AGL +% broker upgrades.
  • TPW -0.5% no bounce.
  • ASB -22.8% earnings guidance last night. Not a good look.
  • COH -18.9% falls on deaf ears.
  • NCK -22.3% sofa so bad.
  • 360 -10.1% tech wreck continues.
  • EQR -12.8% profit taking.
  • CSL -1.4% selling continues.
  • XYZ -7.9% bitcoin weighs.
  • SEK -9.0% buyers not found
  • WJL -25.2% bidders walk.
  • AQZ -12.8% write offs.
  • CBE -14.0% giving some back.
  • Speculative Stock of the Day: None on any volume.

ECONOMIC AND OTHER NEWS

  • Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s latest figures showed household spending rose 0.5% in January, extending the run of growth to 16 consecutive months.
  • Australian consumer spending lifted in January, buoyed by tennis and other summer events, private data showed, though expectations of higher borrowing costs may curb momentum in the months ahead.
  • Seems the first casualty of the Epstein files is a woman. Goldman Sach’s top lawyer, Kathy Ruemmier.
  • The US has signed a trade deal with Taiwan lowering tariffs to 15%.
  • AI company Algorhythm Holdings released a tool it claims allows operators to scale freight volumes by 300% to 400% without hiring more employees. That prospect was enough to send trucking and logistics stocks plummeting.
  • Office towers could soon be empty, according to Elon Musk, who made the comments on a podcast last week, as AI replaces workers.
  • Sales of Xiaomi’s YU7 SUV were twice that of Tesla’s Model Y in China in January. Xiaomi plans to expand overseas despite safety scrutiny.
  • Anthropic raises $30bn at a $350bn valuation in latest funding round.
  • Trump scraps legal basis underpinning US climate regulation.
  • Finally, a daring thief who broke into a jeweller’s shop in Turkey made his getaway on a donkey. Made a bit of an ass of himself. Caught on security cams and arrested.

And finally….

I ran into a lamppost yesterday.

Thankfully, I only sustained light injuries.

Me: Your shoes are on the wrong feet.
4 yr old: I don’t have any other feet.
Me: Fair enough.

Clarence

XXXX

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