It’s not often that we see an ASX share jump almost 30% over just two months. But an S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) blue-chip stock? That’s a rare occasion indeed.

By definition, a blue-chip share is supposed to offer slow-but-steady returns to investors. Blue chips sacrifice high growth potential for dependability and reliability, offering investors tried-and-true business models that have stood the test of time.

That’s why it’s so surprising to see what has happened to Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) shares over the past two months.

Wesfarmers is your typical blue-chip ASX 200 stock. It has been around in some form or another for more than a century and has been listed on the ASX for decades. Today, it owns a stable of some of Australia’s most beloved and well-known businesses. These include Kmart, OfficeWorks, Target, and Bunnings.

In addition to these retailing icons, Wesfarmers also owns a bevvy of other, separate businesses under its roof. These range from clothing and energy to chemical manufacturing and lithium processing.

To make a long story short, this diversification and history arguably make Wesfarmers one of the bluest ASX 200 blue-chip stocks on our market.

But let’s get down to what’s been happening with the Wesfarmers share price.

This company has had quite a volatile year. It started 2026 at $81.72 a share before climbing up to almost $90 by mid-February. However, the stock was hit hard by the global sell-off in March. It had dropped down to a 52-week low of $70.80 a share by mid-May. That was just under two months ago.

Since then, investors have reversed course once again. Today, the company can be bought for $91.03 a share (at the time of writing). That’s a good 28.6% or so above where the company was just two months ago.

Why has this ASX 200 blue chip bounced 30% higher in just two months?

What’s interesting about this case is that there hasn’t been any major news or announcements from Wesfarmers over the past two months, aside from the company’s 10 June Strategy Briefing. And that occurred smack-bang in the middle of the company’s share price recovery.

So it seems that this extraordinary revaluation of Wesfarmers is entirely the result of sentiment. As a huge importer of goods, Wesfarmers is arguably highly exposed to global trade disruptions. So it seems that investors may have sold the company off following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in March. And then piled back in on a belief that those fears were overblown.

This ASX 200 blue chip doesn’t seem to have been knocked off course once again after the geopolitical events of the past week, which may result in another closure. Let’s see how the next few weeks treat Wesfarmers shares.

The post This blue-chip ASX 200 stock is up 30% in 2 months appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• How much superannuation is needed to target a $100,000 annual passive income?
• How to build a successful ASX dividend portfolio
• How I’d invest $10,000 in ASX shares for the next decade
• 3 of the best ASX dividend stocks to supplement your superannuation
• Buy, hold, sell: L1 Long Short Fund, REA, Wesfarmers shares

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has positions in Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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.

More reading

• Evolution Mining posts record FY26 cash flow
• Which ASX tech companies does Macquarie like in the surging cloud computing sector?
• Rio Tinto: 3% production growth and strong lithium output in H1 2026
• 2 ASX shares highly recommended to buy: Experts
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday

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.

More reading

• How I’d invest $10,000 in ASX shares for the next decade
• How much superannuation do you need to earn $5,000 a month in passive income?
• Where could CSL shares go next? Here’s what brokers are predicting
• VAS vs. VHY: Which is the better ASX ETF for retirement?
• The only 3 ASX blue-chip shares I’d buy and hold until 2036

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.