If I had $2,000 to invest in ASX tech shares, I would be looking for businesses with large markets, useful products, and room to become more important to customers over time.

Two shares that stand out to me right now are Xero Ltd (ASX: XRO) and Block Inc (ASX: XYZ).

They are in very different positions. Xero shares are trading around $67.85, just above their 52-week low of $65.00. Block shares have been performing far better and are trading around $109.88, which is within sight of their 52-week high of $127.88 and well above their 52-week low of $69.40.

Despite the different share price momentum, I think both are buys.

Xero shares

Xero is the more beaten-down of the two.

The small-business accounting software company has been through a rough period in the market, but I think the long-term opportunity remains attractive.

What I like about Xero is the role it can play in the daily financial life of a small business. Accounting software is the starting point, but the bigger opportunity is much broader than that.

A small business owner needs to send invoices, pay staff, manage tax, track cash flow, connect bank feeds, understand expenses, chase payments, and make decisions with limited time. If Xero can keep bringing more of those jobs into one easy-to-use platform, it can become more valuable to customers.

The company has already built a strong position in markets such as Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. The challenge is growing in the key US market, expanding its usefulness, and using automation and artificial intelligence in ways that save customers time.

The Xero share price being close to its 52-week low does not guarantee a quick recovery. But I think it gives patient investors a more attractive entry point into a high-quality software business with a large global opportunity.

Block shares

Block is a different type of fintech share. The company owns Square, Cash App, Afterpay, and other payment and financial technology businesses. That gives it exposure to merchants, consumers, payments, lending, point-of-sale tools, buy now pay later, and broader financial services.

What interests me is the way Block sits on both sides of commerce.

Square helps businesses accept payments and manage parts of their operations. Cash App is consumer-facing, giving users a way to send, spend, save, and access financial products. Afterpay adds another layer by connecting customers and merchants through instalment payments.

That creates a large ecosystem.

Block is no longer a tiny disruptor, but I still think it has growth potential if it can deepen its relationship with merchants and consumers. Payments are a huge market, and businesses increasingly want tools that help them manage sales, customers, inventory, staff, data, and finance in one place.

The share price has already recovered strongly from its low, so the setup is different to Xero. But I do not think a stronger share price should automatically scare investors away from a business that is executing well.

For me, Block offers exposure to the future of digital payments and small business financial tools.

Foolish takeaway

If I were investing $2,000 into these two ASX tech shares, I would probably split the money across both rather than trying to pick one clear winner.

The appeal is that both businesses are trying to become more useful in areas where money, payments, and small-business operations are increasingly digital. Xero is doing that through software for small businesses, while Block is doing it through a broader fintech ecosystem.

Both companies still need to execute, and both can be volatile. But I like the long-term customer problems they are solving. Small businesses need better financial tools, merchants need smarter payment systems, and consumers keep shifting toward digital ways to manage money. That gives both Xero and Block a large growth runway.

The post Why I’d buy Xero and Block shares with $2,000 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Is the tech recovery finally here for Xero and Wisetech shares?
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Why Benz Mining, Collins Foods, WiseTech, and Xero shares are shooting higher today
• US chip stocks were smashed overnight. So why are ASX tech shares rising?

Motley Fool contributor Grace Alvino 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 and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Xero. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

On Thursday, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) had a poor session and dropped deep into the red.  The benchmark index fell 0.7% to 8,748.7 points.

Will the market be able to bounce back from this on Friday and end the week on a high? Here are five things to watch:

ASX 200 expected to rise

The Australian share market looks set to rise on Friday despite a mixed night of trade in the United States. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open 14 points or 0.15% higher this morning. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones was up 0.15%, but the S&P 500 was down slightly and the Nasdaq fell 0.45%.

Oil prices recover

ASX 200 energy shares Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) could have a decent finish to the week after oil prices recovered overnight. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 2% to US$71.74 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is up 1.7% to US$75.01 a barrel. This follows reports of an attack on a cargo vessel by Iran.

Buy Minerals 260 shares

Bell Potter thinks Minerals 260 Ltd (ASX: MI6) shares are undervalued and could offer major upside. This morning, the broker has retained its speculative buy rating and $1.35 price target on the ASX gold stock. Commenting on the gold developer, the broker said: “MI6 offers gold exposure via the 4.5Moz Bullabulling Resource, valuation uplift through discovery success, project advancement and de-risking as the BGP progresses towards production. It holds ~$250m cash, sufficient to fund to Final Investment Decision (FID) in early CY27, long-lead items and early site works. We retain our $1.35/sh Valuation and Speculative Buy recommendation.”

Gold price rises

ASX 200 gold shares Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) and Newmont Corporation (ASX: NEM) could have a good finish to the week after the gold price rose overnight. According to CNBC, the gold futures price is up 0.8% to US$4,040.1 an ounce. The release of US inflation data eased rate hike fears and gave the precious metal a boost.

Buy Nickel Industries shares

Nickel Industries Ltd (ASX: NIC) shares could be good value according to analysts at Bell Potter. This morning, the broker has retained its buy rating with an improved price target of $1.55 (from $1.45). It commented: “NIC offers nickel price leverage and diversified margin exposure across an integrated value chain. The HPAL expansion transactions will further balance NIC’s earnings into downstream higher-margin operations and preserve earnings through the nickel price cycle. We lift our Target Price 7% to $1.55/sh and retain our Buy rating.”

The post 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• What’s next for BHP shares? Broker forecasts revealed
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• ASX 200 drops again as investors dump banks and miners
• Crude oil falls below US$70 as ASX energy shares sell-off
• Why Judo Capital, Minerals 260, Santos, and Worley shares are dropping today

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Woodside Energy Group Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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.

Picking three popular ASX blue chip shares is the easy part of this exercise.

The harder question is whether Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG), and CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) can still justify their place in a portfolio two decades from now, not just today.

Each faces a genuine test over that horizon, and each currently looks like it can pass it, for different reasons.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia: the test is whether dominance survives disruption

CBA’s 20-year test is not whether it remains Australia’s largest bank. It has a good chance of it.

The real test is whether a dominant, capital-intensive incumbent can keep fending off digital disruption for two more decades, as it has for the past two.

In the first half of FY2026, CBA delivered a statutory net profit of $5.41 billion, up 5% on the prior corresponding period. Furthermore, CBA was able to continue ramping up technology spending to defend its lead.

However, at approximately 26 times forward earnings, CBA already prices in a significant amount of that continued dominance.

The bull case rests on scale, trust, and a banking app used by more Australians than any rivals. These advantages compound slowly but have proven durable across multiple banking cycles already.

Macquarie Group: the test is whether a trading culture can keep reinventing itself

Macquarie’s 20-year test is different again.

Unlike a retail bank, Macquarie has already reinvented its business model multiple times across three decades, moving from a niche investment bank into one of the world’s largest infrastructure and asset managers.

Morgans was impressed with Macquarie’s FY2026 performance. The broker noted profit was up strongly on the prior year and ahead of consensus estimates. However, the broker flagged that, following recent share price strength, Macquarie shares are close to being fully valued today.

Yet for long-term holders, the case for Macquarie over two decades is less about today’s price and more about betting on a management culture that has consistently found its next growth engine before the previous one matured. These intrinsic competitive advantages are harder to predict than a bank’s mortgage book, but ones Macquarie has repeatedly delivered on.

CSL: the test is whether execution catches up to the moat

CSL’s 20-year test is the most interesting of the three. This is because the moat is not in question, but the recent execution has been.

Morgans retains a buy rating on CSL with a price target of $147.59, arguing the issues behind the FY2026 guidance downgrade, including China albumin price pressure and US immunoglobulin channel inventory normalisation, are executional rather than structural.

CSL’s barriers to entry in plasma collection and biotherapeutics remain extremely high, built over more than a century of operating history. That durability is why brokers have remained broadly constructive even amid a 60% decline from its all-time high.

CSL shares now trade on roughly 28 times earnings, expensive but insignificant over a 20-year time horizon.

The 20-year case for CSL is essentially a bet that an irreplaceable global franchise outlasts a difficult few years of execution. This is the kind of mis-pricing that long-term holders are supposed to be able to look through.

Why the 20-year framing changes the analysis for these ASX shares

Most “buy and hold” investors default to a five-year horizon. This is where current earnings momentum and broker price targets carry most of the weight.

Stretching that horizon to 20 years shifts the question from “what will this stock do next year” to “does the underlying moat survive technological, competitive, and cyclical change for two decades.”

CBA’s moat is threatened by digital disruption. Macquarie’s moat depends on a culture of reinvention rather than a single fixed advantage. CSL’s moat is arguably the strongest of the three on paper, but is currently being tested by execution rather than competition.

Foolish takeaway for these ASX shares

CBA, Macquarie, and CSL each represent a different kind of 20-year bet.

CBA is a bet that scale and trust keep beating disruption. Macquarie is a bet that a culture of reinvention will continue to work as well in 2046 as it has since the 1990s. CSL is a bet that an already-proven moat outlasts a rough few years of execution.

With strong track records on reinforcing their respective competitive advantages, these three blue-chip ASX shares are positioned to continue delivering well into the future.

The post 3 ASX blue chip shares to buy and hold for the next 20 years appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Once untouchable, now unloved: What’s up with CSL shares?
• $10,000 invested in CSL shares 12 months ago is now worth…
• Why I’d buy CSL and Zip shares before they recover
• New to ASX shares? Avoid these 3 beginner mistakes
• 3 quality ASX shares I’d buy (that aren’t CBA or Wesfarmers)

Motley Fool contributor Mark Verhoeven 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 CSL and Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended CSL and Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.