Australia Quant Panorama: Deteriorating news sentiment

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Australia Quant Panorama: Deteriorating news sentiment

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Australia Quant Panorama

Deteriorating news sentiment

Deteriorating Australia news sentiment weighs on equities 09 July 2026

Our Australia News Pulse has deteriorated in recent months as stock-specific news has Quant Strategy

turned less positive. Given the high correlation (63%) between the New Pulse and equity Australia

market performance over the last 22 years, weakening news sentiment has the potential Nigel Tupper >>

to weigh on equity market performance. In June, defensive sectors led performance Quant Strategist

including Health Care and Consumer Staples, Quality was the best performing style, Merrill+61 2 9226Lynch5735(Australia)

while Energy, Materials, and the Momentum style underperformed. nigel.tupper@bofa.com

Amar Vashi >>

Positioning: Investors could be diversifying away from AI QuantMerrill StrategistLynch (Australia)

Our “Global Positioning in Stocks” analysis shows long-only funds globally have bought amar.vashi@bofa.com

shares in Australia worth +$17.0bn in the last 12 months. In recent weeks, investors Sumuhan Shanmugalingam >>

have seemed keen to diversify away from the global AI theme, so may add Australia QuantMerrill StrategistLynch (Australia)

exposure to achieve that goal. The latest monthly positioning data shows funds bought sumuhan.shanmugalingam@bofa.com

+$834m of Australia shares, including BHP (+$313m), QBE (+$125m) and Rio Tinto

(+$123m), but sold Ventia (-$111m).

 Most Important Stocks

Smaller Materials stocks have become more “important”  Triple Momentum

Among Australia’s Most Important Stocks, Triple Momentum is strongest for Liontown,

Elevra Lithium, Capricorn Metals, Firefly Metals, Lynas Rare Earths, and Alcoa. Despite  Steady Compounders