Daily Market Update: 26 February 2026

ASX (ASX:XJO) surges to record high as tech rebounds and Woolworths (ASX:WOW) posts biggest gain in 30 years

The Australian sharemarket closed at a record high on Wednesday as technology stocks bounced back from weeks of heavy selling and supermarket giant Woolworths (ASX:WOW) posted its biggest one-day gain in 30 years. The S&P/ASX 200 rallied 106 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 9,128.3, surpassing the previous record close of 9,094.7 set in October. The rebound was fuelled by Anthropic’s reassurance overnight that its AI tools enhance rather than replace existing software, lifting the local tech sector more than 5 per cent – WiseTech (ASX:WTC) surged 11.1 per cent after announcing plans to cut up to 2,000 staff over two years as it pushes deeper into AI, Xero (ASX:XRO) jumped 5.5 per cent and NextDC (ASX:NXT) 5.4 per cent. Consumer staples was the strongest sector after Woolworths (ASX:WOW)rocketed 13 per cent to $35.63 – its biggest single-day rise on record – after underlying earnings of $1.66 billion for the half came in 6 per cent ahead of consensus, with Australian Food division earnings up nearly 10 per cent to $1.5 billion on improved execution and stabilising market share. BHP (ASX:BHP) hit another record high, closing up 3.2 per cent to $56.51, while Fortescue (ASX:FMG) added 4.7 per cent after a 23 per cent rise in half-year profit to US$1.9 billion and a better-than-expected 62¢ interim dividend. The market shrugged off a stubborn inflation print – headline CPI held at 3.8 per cent in January, above expectations, with underlying inflation rising to 3.4 per cent, pushing market pricing for a rate hike to around 70 per cent by May.

Tabcorp (ASX:TAH) surges 24% and Accent Group (ASX:AX1) soars 20%; Domino’s (ASX:DMP) dives on dividend cut

Reporting season continued to deliver outsized moves. Tabcorp (ASX:TAH) surged 23.5 per cent to $1.05 after group EBITDA of $217 million for the December half beat consensus by 11 per cent. Accent Group (ASX:AX1) soared 19.9 per cent after beating on its first-half dividend and delivering a 5.3 per cent rise in revenue to $817 million. DroneShield (ASX:DRO) climbed 12.6 per cent after full-year net profit jumped 367 per cent to $3.5 million on revenue of $216.5 million, driven by surging global demand for counter-drone technology. Iress (ASX:IRE) added 9.6 per cent after guiding for underlying profit growth of 15–24 per cent next year. On the downside, Domino’s Pizza Enterprises (ASX:DMP) dived 11.1 per cent to $19.27 after slashing its interim dividend to 25¢ from 55.5¢ a year ago, with analysts flagging softer same-store sales. Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) fell 3.2 per cent despite reaffirming guidance for full-year profit growth of 15 per cent.

Wall Street rallies ahead of Nvidia (NYSE:NVDA) earnings; software stocks extend rebound, Bitcoin tops US$69,000

Wall Street pushed higher on Wednesday as investors positioned ahead of Nvidia (NYSE:NVDA) earnings after the bell, with the Nasdaq climbing 1.3 per cent, the S&P 500 up 0.8 per cent and the Dow gaining 0.6 per cent. The options market was pricing in about a 5 per cent swing in either direction for Nvidia, whose shares rose 1.4 per cent into the report – though the stock has fallen in each session following its last two results. The broader tech rebound continued as an ETF tracking software firms jumped 3.1 per cent, while Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) was also due to report. Treasury yields edged up two basis points to 4.05 per cent on the 10-year, the dollar dipped 0.2 per cent, and Bitcoin topped US$69,000. Separately, President Trump is convening tech executives from Amazon (NYSE:AMZN), Meta (NYSE:META), Microsoft (NYSE:MSFT) and Alphabet (NYSE:GOOGL) at the White House next week to sign pledges committing their companies to foot the electricity bill for energy-hungry AI data centres.