S&P/ASX 200 ends on lower side as Australian shares close best week since April 2025 with a dip; check top gainers-losers and best performing sectors

Australian Sharemarket: The S&P/ASX 200 ended the week lower on Friday (February 13, 2026) as Australian shares dipped but managed to wrap up their best week in ten months. Strong company earnings, led by banks, propelled the benchmark ‌towards record territory ⁠last touched ⁠in October 2025.

The S&P/ASX 200 closed lower Friday, dropping 125.90 points, or 1.39%, to 8,917.60 after setting a new 50-day high. Despite the drop, the benchmark logged its best week since late April last year and gained 2.4%. The benchmark ended Thursday at 9,105 points, 10 points below its record high of 9,115.20.

According to the ASX website, the bottom-performing stocks in this index were AUSTAL LIMITED and NICK SCALI LIMITED, down 22.82% and 22.32%, respectively. Over the last five days, the index has gained 2.40% and is currently 2.17% off of its 52-week high.

S&P/ASX 200: Top gainers and losers

The S&P/ASX 200’s top five gainers were led by AMP Limited (AMP), which closed at 1.395, up 0.115 or 8.984%. GQG Partners Inc. (GQG) followed, finishing at 1.735, rising 0.125 or 7.764%. Origin Energy Limited (ORG) ended at 12.080, gaining 0.580 or 5.043%, while NextDC Limited (NXT) settled at 14.020, up 0.500 or 3.698%. Arena REIT (ARF) rounded out the top five, closing at 3.580, advancing 0.110, or 3.170%.

On the decline side, Austal Limited (ASB) recorded the steepest fall, ending at 4.870, down 1.440 or 22.821%. Nick Scali Limited (NCK) dropped to 18.480, shedding 5.310, or 22.321%. Cochlear Limited (COH) finished at 199.220, falling 46.420, or 18.898%. WiseTech Global Limited (WTC) closed at 42.620, down 4.950 or 10.406%, while Life360 Inc. (360) slipped to 22.020, losing 2.470 or 10.086%.

Financials fell, Utilities saw the best performance

Sectors ended mixed. 9 of 11 sectors were lower along with the S&P/ASX 200 Index, according to the ASX website. Utilities was the best-performing sector, gaining +3.38% and +9.38% for the past five days.

While financials fell 0.8% on the day, the sub-index clocked its best week since ⁠mid-March 2022, climbing 5.4%, largely helped by strong results from Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and ANZ Group. There is profit-taking today after ANZ's results drove large intraday moves, said Jamie Hannah, deputy head of investments and capital markets at VanEck Australia.

Westpac shares finished 1.2% lower, having touched a record high earlier in the day after the bank posted better-than-expected first-quarter profit and projected resilient credit demand.

National Australia Bank, due to report next ‌week, closed 1.1% lower, while CBA was down 1.4%. ANZ advanced 1.3%. Miners weighed on the benchmark index, falling 2.2% on the day. The sub-index was up 5.1% ⁠through Friday, marking its best weekly performance since late November.

Healthcare stocks slid 4% to their lowest level in nearly seven years. Hearing implant maker Cochlear shed 19.2% after it reported weaker-than-expected first-half earnings.

The sub-index tumbled 12.6% for the week, logging its worst performance since mid-March 2020, dragged down by CSL after the biotech giant flagged disappointing results and the departure of its chief executive earlier in the week.