The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) endured a horror Thursday, with the Australian markets selling off heavily. We have seen pessimism on the ASX for most of this week, and that accelerated today, with the ASX 200 falling sharply at the open and reaching a 1.5% loss at one point.

Thankfully, sentiment improved slightly in the afternoon. But even so, the index ended up closing with a 1.03% loss at 8,819.4 points.

This depressing Thursday for the ASX followed a similarly bearish night over on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI) was again in a foul mood, dropping another 0.77%

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: .IXIC) wasn’t much better, losing 0.64%.

But let’s grit our teeth and return to the local markets now for a post-mortem of how the different ASX sectors went this session.

Winners and losers

It was a sea of red on the ASX boards today, with not one corner of the market escaping unscathed.

The least-worst place to be was in communications shares. The S&P/ASX 200 Communication Services Index (ASX: XTJ) got out relatively intact, only slipping 0.13% lower.

We can say something similar for utilities stocks, with the S&P/ASX 200 Utilities Index (ASX: XUJ) sliding 0.33%.

Gold shares held up relatively well too. The All Ordinaries Gold Index (ASX: XGD) took a 0.48% dip.

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) fared a little worse though, illustrated by the S&P/ASX 200 A-REIT Index (ASX: XPJ)’s 0.6% retreat.

Consumer discretionary stocks were in a similar boat. The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Discretionary Index (ASX: XDJ) drifted down 0.63% today.

Energy shares came next, with the S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) receding 0.67%.

Healthcare stocks weren’t exempt. The S&P/ASX 200 Healthcare Index (ASX: XHJ) shrank 0.71%.

Consumer staples shares were no safe haven either, as you can see from the S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Staples Index (ASX: XSJ)’s 0.75% reduction.

Financial stocks were hit hard. The S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ) took a 0.9% dive this Thursday.

Industrial shares had a shocker, with the S&P/ASX 200 Industrials Index (ASX: XNJ) cratering by 1.04%.

Mining stocks were smashed too. The S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) tanked 1.62% today.

Finally, tech shares were the worst place to be, evidenced by the S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index (ASX: XIJ)’s 1.74% plunge.

Top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown

Gold stock Ora Banda Mining Ltd (ASX: OBM) came out on top of a fairly anaemic pile of winners this session. Ora Banda shares climbed 4.93% today, finishing the session at $1.60 each. That was despite no news or announcements from the company this Thursday.

Here’s how the other winners tied up at the dock:

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
Ora Banda Mining Ltd (ASX: OBM)	$1.60	4.93%
Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1)	$18.41	4.25%
Eagers Automotive Ltd (ASX: APE)	$20.32	3.09%
West African Resources Ltd (ASX: WAF)	$3.89	2.91%
Tabcorp Holdings Ltd (ASX: TAH)	$0.945	2.72%
Sims Ltd (ASX: SGM)	$25.34	2.30%
Karoon Energy Ltd (ASX: KAR)	$1.83	2.23%
Challenger Ltd (ASX: CGF)	$9.94	1.95%
Cochlear Ltd (ASX: COH)	$137.58	1.68%
Resolute Mining Ltd (ASX: RSG)	$1.42	1.43%

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 Cochlear and Megaport. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Challenger, Cochlear, and Eagers Automotive Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) healthcare shares have soared 39% since the sector pivoted just three months ago.

The S&P/ASX 200 Health Care Index (ASX: XHJ) slumped to a 9-year low on 3 June after a terrible 12 months.

The index fell 39% due to many headwinds, including higher costs of living prompting consumers to delay healthcare expenditure.

Eventually, ASX 200 healthcare shares became too cheap to ignore, and value investors swooped in to capitalise.

They targeted fallen blue-chip stocks at first.

Sector giant CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) saw its share price skyrocket 32% in just the first month of the rebound.

Investors were further buoyed by CSL management’s outlook when the company reported its FY26 results last month.

This boosted the CSL share price further, and now the stock is up 82% since 3 June.

Not all healthcare stocks have performed as well, and experts say there are still good opportunities afoot.

If you’re looking for opportunities in this buoyant sector, here are two buy-rated ASX healthcare small-caps from the experts.

SomnoMed Ltd (ASX: SOM)

The SomnoMed share price is 34 cents, down 2.9% today and down 55% over 12 months.

Top broker Morgans refers to this ASX healthcare share as the “cheaper sleeper”.

Morgans has a speculative buy recommendation on SomnoMed shares.

The broker has a 12-month price target of 76 cents on this stock, which implies a potential 127% upside ahead.

Morgans said:

The FY26 result landed where the July trading update flagged, with revenue of A$114.5m and adjusted EBITDA of A$10.9m (9.6% margin), a touch under our A$11.1m EBITDA forecast.

The management restructure is now formalised (Karen Borg sole CEO, Greg Knight COO, Nathan Minnich CMO), removing the leadership overhang flagged in July and giving the FY27 growth reinflection case a settled team to execute against.

With A$16.8m net cash against a A$73m market cap, SOM is now trading on <8x EV/EBITDA, it’s too cheap.

Mach7 Technologies Ltd (ASX: M7T)

The Mach7 Technologies share price is 26 cents, down 5.5% today and down 13% over 12 months.

Morgans has a buy rating on this ASX healthcare share with a 48-cent target.

This suggests a potential 84% upside ahead.

Morgans said:

The market should be broadly comfortable with the result given recent trading updates, but new contract delivery remains the key requirement before investors are likely to begin marking the stock materially higher.

Revenue and OPEX landed broadly in line with guidance, while the NPAT miss was driven by a A$1.9m restructuring charge and a weaker tax benefit rather than deterioration in the core subscription business.

Moderate increase in target price due to model roll-forward, lower share count, and leaner-than-expected cost base.

Upside potential to target presents an opportunity but needs new contract momentum to spark renewed interest.

The post ASX healthcare shares are 39% higher since June. Are you missing out? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen 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 Mach7 Technologies. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended CSL. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

West African Resources Ltd (ASX: WAF) shares hit a new 12-month high on Thursday, after the company announced a record profit and a large special dividend.

Maiden dividend a windfall for shareholders

The company is now trading with a dividend yield of more than 5% after announcing it would pay a 20 cent per share, unfranked dividend to its shareholders.

The record date for the dividend is 18 September, with the dividend to be paid on 7 October.

West African Resources shares hit a fresh 12-month high of $4.06 on the news before settling back to be 4.7% higher at $3.96.

The gold miner said it had achieved records across the board in its first half, with revenue of $1.46 billion and a profit after tax of $437 million.

The company had $876 million in cash and 42,453 ounces of unsold gold bullion at the end of June.

Production for the full year came in at 232,905 ounces of gold.

West African Executive Chairman Richard Hyde said:

WAF delivered an outstanding result for the first half of 2026, with the Group’s first full six months of combined production from Sanbrado and Kiaka. The Group continued to generate strong profit margins from 232,905 gold ounces produced and 214,883 ounces sold at a realised sales price of US$4,744/oz and an AISC of US$1,823/oz. With two large, low-cost and long-life gold production centres at Sanbrado and Kiaka, WAF is positioned to build on its performance through the second half of 2026 and beyond. This is underpinned by the updated 10-year production outlook released on 31 March 2026.

Mr Hyde said the company also intended to accelerate its debt repayments over the next 12 months.

The company had $388.1 million in debt at the end of June.

West African Resources was also planning more than 100,000 metres of exploration drilling for the remainder of 2026.

The company’s guidance for the full year is for production of 430,000 to 490,000 ounces of gold.

Major expansion plans in the wings.

Previous announcements indicate West African Resources is targeting an average of more than 533,000 ounces of gold production per year from 2026 to 2035, with annual production to peak at 569,000 in 2030.

An upcoming drill program is planned to target mineralisation beneath the current Kiaka open-pit reserve.

The company added:

The … mineralisation at Kiaka remains open at depth, with a significant proportion of ounces located below the planned pit design and currently classified as Inferred Mineral Resources. The program is designed to assess the potential for open pit expansion or the development of a large‐scale underground operation following completion of the open pit.

The post West African Resources’ new dividend yield might surprise appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Cameron England has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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.