It was a pleasant hump day for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) and many ASX shares this Wednesday.

After yesterday’s lethargic showing, investors came back to the ASX boards with a little more pep in their steps, sending the ASX 200 0.37% higher. After staying in green territory all day, the index ended up closing at 8,841.1 points.

This confident mid-week session for the Australian markets follows a sunny session on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI) had a lukewarm day, rising by just 0.018%.

However, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: .IXIC) was far more bullish, gaining 0.9%.

Let’s get back to the local markets now and dive a little deeper into what the various ASX sectors were up to today.

Winners and losers

We had more green sectors than red ones this session.

Leading the red sectors were communications shares. The S&P/ASX 200 Communication Services Index (ASX: XTJ) was shunned, tumbling 1.2%.

Gold stocks had a similar experience, with the All Ordinaries Gold Index (ASX: XGD) diving 0.95%.

Energy shares found themselves on the nose, too. The S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) retreated 0.57% this hump day.

We could say the same for consumer staples stocks, with the S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Staples Index (ASX: XSJ) dipping 0.56%.

Healthcare stocks couldn’t hold their own either, evident by the S&P/ASX 200 Healthcare Index (ASX: XHJ)’s 0.38% slide.

Our last losers were consumer discretionary shares. The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Discretionary Index (ASX: XDJ) slipped 0.22% lower by the close of trading.

Let’s turn to the winners now. Leading the push higher were mining stocks, with the S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) surging 1.7%.

Utilities shares were far tamer, though. The S&P/ASX 200 Utilities Index (ASX: XUJ) lifted 0.17% today.

Financial stocks were also in that ballpark, illustrated by the S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ)’s 0.15% advance.

Tech shares followed financials. The S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index (ASX: XIJ) jumped 0.13%.

Then we had real estate investment trusts (REITs), with the S&P/ASX 200 A-REIT Index (ASX: XPJ) also bouncing 0.13% higher.

Finally, industrial stocks rounded out the winners this Wednesday, as you can see by the S&P/ASX 200 Industrials Index (ASX: XNJ)’s 0.07% bump.

Top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown

Our best performer this hump day was miner Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd (ASX: KCN). Kingsgate shares shot up 15.89% this session to finish at $4.23 each.

This came after the company reported some guidance and production updates, which clearly went down well with the market.

Here’s how the other top stocks tied up at the dock: 

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd (ASX: KCN)	$4.23	15.89%
Mesoblast Ltd (ASX: MSB)	$2.59	8.82%
Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP)	$3.20	8.47%
NextDC Ltd (ASX: NXT)	$13.81	5.66%
FireFly Metals Ltd (ASX: FFM)	$1.84	5.44%
Block Inc (ASX: XYZ)	$118.15	5.18%
Neuren Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: NEU)	$17.54	5.09%
James Hardie Industries plc (ASX: JHX)	$37.15	4.41%
Elevra Lithium Ltd (ASX: ELV)	$9.25	4.05%
IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO)	$7.00	3.86%

Our top 10 shares countdown is a recurring end-of-day summary that shows which companies made big moves on the day. Check in at Fool.com.au after the weekday market closes to see which stocks make the countdown.

The post Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Block. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

It’s been a fairly pleasant day for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) and many ASX 200 shares this Wednesday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has advanced 0.33% to just under 8,840 points. But let’s talk about what’s happening with the Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) share price.

Macquarie shares are also enjoying some time in the sun this hump day. The diversified financial stock closed at $253.04 yesterday evening but opened at $255.22 this morning. Just after midday, Macquarie went even higher, blowing past $257 to top out at $257.29. That’s a new all-time record high for the Macquarie share price.

At present, the financial stock has cooled off a little, but is still trading at $255.80 a share, up a comfortable 1.12% for the session thus far.

This gain puts Macquarie shares up a sizeable 25.6% year to date in 2026, and up 14% over the past 12 months. Investors who held back in March when the company fell below $200 a share during the initial sell-off following the onset of the US-Iran War have certainly been rewarded.

Why is the Macquarie share price hitting new record highs today?

There’s no smoking gun for today’s new record high for the Macquarie share price. The company hasn’t made any significant announcements for a while.

What we can say is that sentiment on Macquarie shares has been improving since the company’s latest earnings were released back in May. As we covered at the time, these earnings were impressive, with Macquarie reporting higher return on equity, a 30% rise in net profits after tax to $4.85 billion, and a 30% boost to earnings per share (EPS) to $12.77. The company also raised its final dividend by a healthy 7.7% to $4.20 per share.

Macquarie has a large and immensely profitable investment banking division. Perhaps investors are betting that the company will continue to prosper amid the heightened volatility this year has brought.

It’s also worth noting that Macquarie shares are being looked upon favourably by brokers. As my Fool colleague Samantha Menzies looked at the end of last month, a “majority of brokers have a strong buy rating on Macquarie Group shares”.

Let’s see if this ASX 200 financial stock can keep breaking its records.

At the current Macquarie share price, the company trades on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 20.2 and a dividend yield of 2.73%.

The post The Macquarie share price just hit a new record high appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) shares have dipped into the red in Wednesday afternoon trade.

The oil and gas producer’s shares are down around 0.2% and changing hands at $7.70 at the time of writing.

But today’s small dip has barely dented gains made over the past week.

Santos shares tumbled 9% through June and into the first week of July. But have now rebounded around 8% over the past week and are back to levels seen during a rally in mid-March when escalating conflict in the Middle East raised concerns about global oil supply.

The shares are now up around 25% year to date, but are still roughly 1% below the trading levels seen this time last year.

Why are Santos shares in the spotlight this week?

The oil and gas major’s shares are the talk of the town after the US-Iran ceasefire broke down last week, and war escalated again between the two nations.

Santos shares gradually cooled through June and into July, off the back of expectations that the conflict was winding down. When the original peace deal broke in June, Santos fell 8% in a single session. 

But a stark reversal over the past week has reinvigorated the war risk tailwinds that saw the company’s shares fly higher earlier this year. 

Escalating conflict has quickly caused a spike in oil prices, which in turn acts as a strong tailwind for Santos shares.

Trading Economics data shows that the price of WTI crude oil has now spiked over US$80 per barrel.

“Oil prices have rallied this week as renewed tensions between Washington and Tehran heightened supply concerns, adding fresh uncertainty after Persian Gulf producers increased exports following the signing of the interim peace agreement,” Trading Economics said.

The good news for Santos is that the business can continue to perform well regardless of whether geopolitical uncertainty is high or low.

A few company-specific price drivers, including a rise in production and improved cash flow, have also helped Santos shares climb higher.

In late April, Santos posted its March quarter update, where it revealed a 1% increase in production and a 3% rise in sales revenue versus the prior quarter. 

Its free cash flow from operations of US$383 million was in line with Q4 2025, and management reaffirmed its full-year 2026 production and cost guidance.

The company also recently confirmed it has now hit continuous production at its Pikka oil project in Alaska. The project is now producing about 20,000 barrels of oil per day, which will ramp up to 80,000 during the third quarter of 2026.

Are Santos shares a buy, sell, or hold now?

The experts are very bullish about the outlook for Santos this year.

Market Index data shows that all brokers agree on a buy rating on Santos shares. The average $8.70 target price implies a potential 13% upside at the time of writing. 

Macquarie is one broker that has an optimistic outlook on Santos. It said that the company has had solid sequential growth in its second-quarter production and that it currently sees the producer tracking to the lower end of its CY26 guidance range. The team has a buy rating and a $9 target price on the shares. 

The post Why is everyone talking about Santos shares this week? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• How much do I need in my superannuation to get $50k per year in passive income?

Motley Fool contributor Samantha Menzies has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.