In just the third week of 2026. the Australian Sharemarket reached its highest level since October, driven by strong momentum in bank stocks and a rally in the tech industry. Clearly, 2026 has brought some risk appetite for investors as the market builds confidence early in the year.
The week’s best performers on the ASX 200 include:
Catalyst Metals Limited (ASX:CYL) +24.48%
Light & Wonder (ASX:LNW)+ 16.70%
Stanmore Resources Ltd (ASX:SMR) +15.38%
After a strong year for gold miners in 2025 on the ASX, Catalyst Minerals Limited (ASX:CYL) backed it up announcing record high gold production in their most recent quarterly update leading to a 15% surge on Friday.
Alongside their announcement, the company shared that only 2 and half years ago its Plutonic mine site was “near bankrupt, producing from only one mine”. Today, Catalyst is targeting production across four mines on the Plutonic Gold Belt. A sharp turnaround story, and one to watch.
In contrast, the worst performers on the ASX 200:
Mesoblast Limited (ASX:MSB) -14.01%
Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP) -13.38%
GQG Partners (ASX:GQG) -9.09%
Mesoblast Limited’s 14% drop in the past week isn’t as bad as it looks. After rallying two weeks ago, including a 10% jump to a 52-week high, Mesoblast’s fall on the Sharemarket seems to be related to investors profit-taking. Despite this fall, analysts and experts are fairly optimistic on a Mesoblast bounce back in the medium term.
