ASX June Winners: ASX 200 rose 1.4pc in June, up nearly 10pc for quarter

• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.4% in June, posting gains of almost 10% for Q2 CY25
• The S&P/ASX emerging companies was the only index in the red, down 0.41%
• Codeifai topped June winners, up 600% after announcing it was acquiring main competitor Trust Codes

Brushing aside inflation worries, trade tensions and geopolitical risks, the Aussie bourse followed global equities higher in June and Q2 CY25, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI).

The ASX and global markets were briefly rattled by heightened geopolitical tensions following the Israel-Iran conflict in mid-June but ultimately proved resilient upon news of a ceasefire toward month’s end.

The S&P/ASX 200 closed 1.4% higher in June and posted an almost 10% gain for the quarter. Meanwhile, S&P DJI said US equities staged a dramatic recovery in Q2, with the S&P 500 “rebounding by over 20% since the tariff-related tumult experienced in early April”.

“Fuelled by robust corporate earnings from Big Tech and recent optimism surrounding potential upcoming tax cuts, The 500 reached another all-time closing high on the last trading day of the month, closing the quarter up 11%,” the world’s largest index provider said.

At home, the S&P/ASX emerging companies was the only index in the red in June, down 0.41%.

Energy tops winning sectors in June

Five of the 11 sectors rose in June with energy leading the gainers up 9.01%, followed by financials up 4.28% and real estate rising 1.66%. Materials led the laggards, down 3.09%, followed by consumer staples dropping 2.27% and healthcare falling 1.05%.

There was plenty of news in the energy sector at home and abroad in June, with the Israel-Iran conflict initially pushing oil prices higher, though gains proved short-lived.

At home, a consortium of investors led by the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) made headlines with its $30 billion takeover bid for Australia’s second largest gas producer Santos (ASX:STO).

S&P DJI said cyclical sectors within the S&P/ASX 200 saw a robust rebound during the market recovery in Q2, particularly led by technology and financials.

“However, materials lagged, along with defensive sectors such as utilities, health care and consumer staples.”

Steady fixed income as ASX VIX edges up

Fixed income indices continued to perform steadily amid the ongoing easing cycle by central banks, while in June, the S&P/ASX 200 VIX rose 0.99 points to 11.44, indicating a slight increase in market volatility expectations among investors.

The 50 best performing ASX stocks in June

Leading player in AI-driven QR code and brand protection technology Codeifai (ASX:CDE) topped the winners list in June, up 600%.

During the month Codeifai announced it was acquiring its main competitor Trust Codes, which runs serialised QR code traceability platform, with customers across Australia, New Zealand, the US and other global markets.

Perth-based icetana (ASX:ICE) rose 300% in June after locking in four agreements with SoftBank Robotics Group Corp and its subsidiaries with a total value of $3.6 million.

Softbank will become an exclusive distributor of icetana AI in Japan, committing to a minimum purchase agreement of US$450k on a recurring annual basis.

The Singapore arm of Softbank Robotics will also take a 17.6% stake in icetana with an investment of $1.87m, and the two companies will work together to integrate ICE’s AI analytics with Softbank’s automation and security solutions via a $1.08m three-year joint product development program.

June was also a good month for drug developer Amplia Therapeutics (ASX:ATX) which was up 300% after a series of positive announcements including confirmed pathological complete responses recorded in two advanced (metastatic) pancreatic cancer patients as part of its ACCENT trial.

The trial is investigating Amplia’s best-in-class FAK inhibitor narmafotinib in combination with standard-of-care chemotherapies gemcitabine and Abraxane in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. Amplia said a complete response was a rare outcome in advanced pancreatic cancer where the disease has spread to other parts of the body.

Amplia also announced in June it had received US ethics approval of the protocol for its forthcoming Phase II clinical trial of narmafotinib in combination with the chemotherapy FOLFIRINOX in advanced pancreatic cancer.

Provider of data-centric software solutions for secure collaboration of sensitive information archTIS (ASX:AR9) rose 229% in June after two major contract wins in the defence space in the UK and US.

The company entered a three-year contractual agreement worth ~$263,000 with the UK arm of a large multinational aerospace and defence corporation, covering 400 of its NC Protect licences to help meet strict UK Ministry of Defence data security rules in Microsoft 365.

Following months of “rigorous testing by a leading government contractor” archTIS announced its NC Protect solution had passed a key evaluation milestone for secure collaboration within the US Department of Defense’s Microsoft DoD365 cloud, earning an initial 1,000-user deployment.

The 50 worst performing ASX stocks in June

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