ASX rises again despite AI scare

The ASX 200 rose 1.03% this week, a third straight weekly gain, as miners and tech stocks bounced back from a sharp AI-led sell-off midweek. Miners, which tend to trade as a proxy for AI because of their copper exposure, led Friday’s recovery, while banks and consumer staples fell.

This week’s best performers

Wisetech Global (ASX:WTC) +11.83%
WiseTech Global, the logistics software provider, rose 11.83% in a week when ASIC closed two investigations with no-action letters, one into alleged share trading by Richard White and two employees and one into governance. That isn’t a finding on conduct, and a probe into one person who isn’t an employee is still running. The next result and integrating e2open remain the bigger tests.

Bank of Queensland (ASX:BOQ) +7.85%
Bank of Queensland’s FY26 profit rose 88% to $250m, but cash earnings, which strip out one-off items, fell 7% to $358m. The market cared more about capital, with its core buffer against losses up 70 basis points to 11.64% and a 15c special dividend helped by a $3.6bn equipment finance loan sale to Challenger. Home lending shrank 8%, and the shares are down 9% over 12 months.

Treasury Wine Estates (ASX:TWE) +7.65%
Holding guidance lifted Treasury Wine Estates, the owner of Penfolds and Wolf Blass, 7.65%. At its AGM it said underlying EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) should be at least equal to last year, with Penfolds sales in China slightly ahead of plan after tariffs were removed. But the stock now trades above Macquarie’s neutral price target, so the February half-year result is the next test.

This week’s worst performers

Vulcan Energy Resources (ASX:VUL) -17.25%
A plan by the EU to cap Chinese hybrid vehicle imports sent lithium prices lower, and Vulcan Energy, the German geothermal lithium developer, fell 17.25% with it. It reported no project setback, but as a developer with no production yet, its value rests on future lithium prices. Raising the capital it needs gets harder as the share price falls, and the September quarter report in late October should update funding.

Ingenia Communities (ASX:INA) -16.81%
Ingenia Communities, the senior community and land lease operator, fell 16.81% even though Warburg Pincus lifted its cash proposal to $5.25, labelled best and final. At $3.96, the shares sit well below that, which suggests the market doubts a deal gets done. The latest results were strong, with second-half revenue up to $301.9m and net income more than doubling to $89m, lifting net margin from 15.3% to 29.5%. But rent caps in Queensland and NSW and fines over illegal cooking bans still weigh on the business, and the proposed Peet acquisition has to be integrated without hurting margins.

Deep Yellow (ASX:DYL) -16.33%
Deep Yellow, the uranium developer behind the Tumas project in Namibia, fell 16.33% after delaying its final investment decision, the formal go-ahead to commit the full construction budget, beyond Q4 2026. Management blamed equity market conditions for limiting funding for uranium developers. Construction continues, funded from existing cash, but the shares are down 67% over 12 months and Tumas stays a project waiting on money.