Rate fears drags down the ASX

The ASX 200 fell 1% this week, as gains in tech weren't enough to offset heavy selling in energy and mining stocks. Australia's economy grew faster than expected last quarter, which sounds like good news, but this has caused economists and traders to price in more RBA rate hikes on top of the three already delivered this year. Markets are now pointing to a 65% chance of a fourth increase at the September 29 meeting, adding to the pressure heading into next week.

The week’s best performers 

PEXA Group (ASX:PXA) +11.23%

PEXA Group, the digital property settlement platform, clawed back some ground after last Friday's 17.43% sell-off on the back of its FY26 result, with Macquarie keeping an ‘Outperform’ rating and arguing the market had overreacted to conservative FY27 guidance. The underlying numbers were solid, with revenue up 7% to $406.9m, earnings (EBITDA) up 12% and free cash flow up 39%, while net debt fell and net leverage dropped from 1.8x to 1.0x, though the stock remains down 45.45% since the start of 2026.

Graincorp (ASX:GNC) +9.31%

GrainCorp, the grain storage, handling and processing company, rallied after the ABARES lifted its 2026-27 winter crop forecasts on a wetter than expected southern winter, with wheat production revised up to 29.9 million tonnes and canola to 7.27 million tonnes. A bigger harvest matters for GrainCorp, which had already slashed FY26 EBITDA guidance to $200-240m from $308m on a weak crop and thin export margins. The rally has since eased 3.13% by Friday as investors weighed whether the upgrade is enough to offset ongoing margin pressure.

Dalrymple Bay Infrastructure (ASX:DBI) +6.73%

The company that operated the world’s largest metallurgical coal export facility, Dalrymple Bay Infrastructure, lifted after successful half-year results showed higher sales, revenue and net income. Dalrymple's earnings are seen as inflation-protected, but its stock price looks unjustifiably more expensive than its global infrastructure peers, trading at 72.9 times earnings versus an average of 16.1x, and its long-term exposure to metallurgical coal demand leaves plenty of room for scepticism.

This week's worst performers

Pinnacle Investment Management (ASX:PNI) -18.32%

Pinnacle Investment Management, the multi-affiliate investment management platform, extended a slide that began with a 10.1% plunge after fellow asset manager Platypus Asset Management was shut down, stoking broader fears around private credit exposure across the sector. The drop overshadowed a strong FY26 result, with net profit after tax up 31% to $176.7m and affiliate funds under management up 27.9% to $229.4bn.

Silex Systems (ASX:SLX) -16.28%

The company that specialises in laser-based isotope separation technology, Silex Systems, gave back a chunk of last week's 16.63% surge, which had come after it posted FY26 revenue nearly doubling to $26.74m and narrowed its net loss to $38.62m. With little fresh news out this week, the pullback looks like straightforward profit-taking after a stock that had already run up around 30% over the past month, rather than a reaction to any new development. 

Lovisa Holdings (ASX:LOV) -12.41%

The fast-fashion jewellery retailer, Lovisa Holdings, fell despite FY26 sales climbing 17.6% to roughly $938.8m and net profit up around 10.7%, as investors focused on comparable-store sales growth coming in softer than the overall number. That gap suggests a meaningful chunk of Lovisa's growth is still coming from opening new stores rather than existing ones selling more, raising questions about how the growth story holds up once their “aggressive” global expansion eventually slows.