S&P/ASX 200 edges lower as Australian shares end flat: Financials decline, mining gains; check top gainers and losers and sector-wise performance

Australian Sharemarket: The Australian sharemarket on Tuesday (February 10, 2026) closed ⁠flat as gains in miners and gold stocks were offset by declines in banks, while insurance stocks came under pressure after the launch of ‌an AI tool ‌by Insurify. After seeing a rally on Monday, the S&P/ASX 200 ended 2.7 points lower at 8,867.40, after rising 1.9% yesterday.

The bottom-performing stocks in this index were STEADFAST GROUP LIMITED and INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED, down 9.46% and 6.19%, respectively, according to the ASX website. Over the last five days, the index is virtually unchanged but is currently 2.72% below its 52-week high.

Financials weighed on the benchmark and slid 1.1%, dragged down by sharp losses in insurance companies.

ASX 200: Top gainers and losers

On the S&P/ASX 200, Silex Systems Limited (SLX) led the day’s gains, closing at $7.240, up $0.560, representing an increase of 8.383 per cent. DroneShield Limited (DRO) followed, finishing at $3.380 after rising $0.230, a gain of 7.301 per cent. Deep Yellow Limited (DYL) also recorded strong gains, ending the session at $2.550, up $0.170, or 7.142 per cent. Zip Co Limited (ZIP) closed at $2.620, adding $0.150, an increase of 6.072 per cent, while Superloop Limited (SLC) rounded out the top five gainers, rising $0.130 to $2.460, a gain of 5.579 per cent.

On the downside, Steadfast Group Limited (SDF) recorded the steepest decline, ending at $4.500 after falling $0.470, a drop of 9.457 per cent. Insurance Australia Group Limited (IAG) closed at $7.280, down $0.480, or 6.186 per cent. AUB Group Limited (AUB) finished the session at $25.950, shedding $1.690, representing a decline of 6.115 per cent. CSL Limited (CSL) ended at $171.390, down $8.980, a fall of 4.979 per cent, while Suncorp Group Limited (SUN) closed at $16.050, losing $0.710, or 4.237 per cent.

Top-performing sectors

According to the ASX website, 8 of 11 sectors ended higher. Information Technology was the best-performing sector, gaining +2.14% and rebounding from its recent decline. This sector is off -7.73% for the past five days.

Shares of Steadfast Group, AUB Group and Insurance Australia Group fell between 6.1% and 9.5%. Capping losses, miners advanced 1% on higher iron ore prices. BHP Group rose 1.1%, and Rio Tinto gained 1.4%.

Gold ‍stocks climbed 1.3% for a second straight session, with Genesis Minerals up 2.8% and St Barbara rising 4.4%. Technology stocks ‍added 2.1%, ⁠tracking overseas peers. WiseTech ⁠Global gained up to 2.6%, and Xero rose 2.2%.

Energy stocks advanced 0.6%, with uranium miners Deep Yellow and Paladin Energy up 7.1% and 5.5%, respectively. Among individual stocks, shares of Treasury Wine Estates were up 8.1% after it settled a dispute with U.S. distributor Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) over the closure of its California operations. In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index closed 0.501% higher at 13,513.68.