ASX 200 forecast for 2026: Rate-hike bets return as strategists split on Australia stocks
NEW YORK, January 1, 2026, 15:09 ET Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is entering 2026 more than 4% below its Oct. 21 record after a late-year pullback that followed a shift from rate-cut expectations to probable hikes. The market still delivered a 6.8% return in 2025, and two of Australia’s four big banks expect a rate increase at the central bank’s first meeting in early February, The Guardian reported. That matters now because Australia’s share market leans heavily on banks and miners, and interest-rate expectations feed directly into how investors value dividends and future profits. Higher rates typically lift funding costs
