ASX 200
^AXJO
Key Statistics
About ASX 200
By Liveworldmarket Editorial Team · Last reviewed 29 June 2026
ASX 200 — Australia's Headline Benchmark
The S&P/ASX 200 (commonly the 'ASX 200') is the headline benchmark for the Australian Securities Exchange, composed of the 200 largest ASX-listed stocks by free-float market capitalisation. The index is float-adjusted and cap-weighted, with high concentration in financials (Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ, National Australia Bank, Macquarie — ~28% of weight) and mining/materials (BHP, Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals, Northern Star — ~22% of weight). Healthcare (CSL, Cochlear), consumer staples (Woolworths, Wesfarmers) and energy (Woodside, Santos) round out the major sectoral exposures.
Because of Australia's heavy export concentration in iron ore, coal and LNG, the ASX 200 functions as the developed-world's cleanest equity-index proxy for industrial-commodity demand — particularly Chinese demand. Empirically, the iron ore spot price correlates with the ASX 200 mining sub-sector at ~0.6 on rolling-90-day data. The headline ASX 200 is therefore an indirect China-growth indicator that trades during Asian hours.
History & contract origins
The S&P/ASX 200 was launched on 3 April 2000, replacing the older All Ordinaries Index as the primary institutional benchmark. The index is jointly operated by S&P Dow Jones Indices and the ASX. It crossed 4,000 in 2002, peaked at 6,852 in November 2007 just before the GFC, fell 54% to a March 2009 low of 3,121, and took nearly 12 years to retake the 2007 high (June 2021). The all-time peak of 8,500 was reached in early 2025 during the post-COVID resources reflation.
Major drawdowns: 2007-09 GFC (-54%), 2011 European debt crisis (-22%), 2020 COVID (-37%), 2022 (-15%). The ASX 200 has historically been one of the highest dividend-yielding major equity benchmarks (typically 4-5% gross yield) due to a tax-incentive structure ('franking credits') that encourages high payout ratios at Australian banks and resource companies.
Trading hours & session layout
ASX is the only major exchange whose cash session spans across the Indian morning. The ASX runs in two phases:
| Pre-open auction | 04:30 - 05:30 IST |
| Normal trading | 05:30 - 11:00 IST |
| Closing single price auction | 11:00 - 11:10 IST |
Holiday calendar (typical annual closures)
Listed below are the major scheduled closures for the underlying exchange. Exact dates shift year-to-year — always verify against the exchange's official calendar before holding overnight positions across a holiday boundary.
| Holiday | Typical date |
|---|---|
| New Year's Day | 1 January |
| Australia Day | 26 January (observed Monday if weekend) |
| Good Friday | Variable |
| Easter Monday | Variable |
| ANZAC Day | 25 April |
| Queen's / King's Birthday | Second Monday of June |
| Bank Holiday (NSW) | First Monday of August |
| Labour Day (various states) | First Monday of October |
| Christmas Day | 25 December |
| Boxing Day | 26 December |
How to read this tape
Read the ASX 200 alongside three other signals. First, iron ore spot prices (China's Singapore-listed 62% Fe iron ore swaps are the cleanest reference) — when iron ore rises, BHP and Rio rally hard. Second, the AUD/USD rate — a stronger AUD usually accompanies risk-on (good for ASX) while a weaker AUD reflects China-growth concerns (bad for ASX miners). Third, the Australian 10-year government bond yield — financial sector profitability is sensitive to the bond-yield curve shape.
Foreign-investor flows are critical for the ASX 200 because Australia is a high-yield income-generating market that attracts US, European and Japanese fixed-income substitutes during low-global-rate regimes.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the ASX 200 so heavily weighted to banks and miners?
Because those two sectors dominate Australia's GDP composition and equity-market capitalisation. The 'big four' Australian banks together exceed $500B in market cap; BHP alone is over $200B. Smaller sectors (tech, consumer-internet) are structurally underweight at the index level.
What are 'franking credits' and why do they matter?
An Australian tax-incentive system where corporate-tax paid by the company can be passed through to shareholders as a tax credit on dividends received. The system encourages high dividend payout ratios at Australian companies, which is why the ASX 200 yield is structurally higher than most developed-market benchmarks.
How does the ASX 200 correlate with Asian markets?
Roughly 0.5 with Hang Seng and 0.4 with Nifty 50 on daily returns. The ASX often opens 90 minutes before the Hang Seng and can therefore signal early Asia-Pacific sentiment.
Can Indian residents invest in the ASX 200?
Yes, via the LRS route. Tracking ETFs include EWA (US-listed iShares MSCI Australia) and STW.AX (SPDR S&P/ASX 200 Fund, the most-liquid Australian-domiciled tracker).
What time does the ASX close in IST?
11:00 IST (with a 10-minute closing auction running until 11:10 IST). It's the first major Asia-Pacific exchange to close in any given trading day.
Related markets
Editorial article. Information only — not investment advice. Read our Risk Disclaimer before acting on any market data shown here.