Investors dump small caps; cash usage rises; Adidas the winner in marathon record
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome to Fear and Greed, business news you can use today.
Why are Aussie small cap stocks underperforming in 2026?
Aussie small cap stocks underperform as investors look for high quality assets. IFM Investors makes a near $7 billion bid for toll road group Atlas Arteria and two runners break the two hour barrier for the first time at the London Marathon. And the winner is Adidas. Plus space ETFs are all the craze and cash is back. It is Tuesday, the 28th of April, 2026. I'm Michael Thompson and good morning, Sean Aylmer. Good morning, Michael. Sean, the main story this morning, Australian small caps, which are companies ranked 101 to 300 on the ASX in terms of market size, have been among the poorest performers. on the bourse so far this year with only the technology index doing worse. So far this year, the ASX small ordinaries index is down 7% while the index of top 20 companies is up 6%.
The buffeting of global markets from the war in the Middle East and the spike in energy costs has really hit smaller stocks hardest and investors have looked for perceived kind of safer assets. That comes on the back of what was actually a strong 2025 for the small cap sector. Materials, financials and industrials make up what, half the index, would you say?
Yeah. About that. Some of the better known names in the small cap index have really had a disastrous 2026. Len Lease, it's off more than 35%. The construction company, tracking company, Life360, it's off more than 30%. Same deal with shipbuilder, Austal. Virgin Australia, about the same. Flight Centre, buy now, pay later group, Zipco. One time blue chip, I suppose, AMP. Yeah. They're all off 20%, 25%. Levis, the retailers, tumbled. It has been a dreadful 2026 for small caps. Now, not everyone's dropped.
What does IFM Investors' bid for Atlas Arteria mean for the toll road group?
Gaming Group, Tabcorp's up 9%. Uranium Company, Deep Yellow's up 11%. But basically, investors are looking for high-quality equities at the moment, and they're jumping into large caps and staying away from small caps.
Now, is it mostly about the Middle East and the spike in oil prices, or did it kind of start even before that? Did some of their share prices come off when interest rates started to rise?
Yes. I mean, that's right. Some of them had come off before the conflict began, though it definitely has accelerated since the beginning of March. Small cap stocks are more volatile. They're
How are space ETFs gaining popularity among investors?
They can be buffeted by a change in government policy or a spike in energy prices or a couple of interest rate hikes. And that's exactly what is happening. Investors are looking for safety and companies like the big banks, the big miners, the big retailers, they provide that. Ignoring the energy companies because they've benefited from higher oil prices, a bunch of the top 20 companies have done really well and mostly stable companies. So Woolies, that's up nearly 30% this year. BHP is up more than 20%. Macquarie is up 20%. Not the most stable of the large caps, but benefiting from what's going on in the US. Rio is up 18%. QBE, that's kind of a stable stock insurance, not dull. Just solid, Michael. Just solid.
It's up more than 10%. Commonwealth Bank's the same. Telstra is up 9%. In fact, the only top 20 company that really hasn't done very well, Brambles hasn't done so well, but the one that's really been dumped is CSL. It's off more than 20% this year. So we are just seeing this migration of investors throughout this period to big, safe stocks and away from the small caps.
Sean, normally I would mention our Q&A interview later in the show, but you actually just mentioned the company that it relates to. So I'll toss in a mention now. Telstra, today you're speaking with CEO Vicky Brady, who we caught up with at the Microsoft AI tour last week. It's a great chat, this one.
It is. We talk all about how Telstra has embraced AI and and they're using Microsoft products. And we asked her, how did it start? How did you start that when you're such a big company and you're running Telstra, which has got more than a million shareholders, where do you start? And we got right down to the point of saying, and so Vicky Brady, exactly what do you do with AI?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:06–0:09
2
Why are Aussie small cap stocks underperforming in 2026?
0:09–1:58
3
What does IFM Investors' bid for Atlas Arteria mean for the toll road group?
1:58–2:33
4
How are space ETFs gaining popularity among investors?
2:33–4:19
5
Why is cash usage rising among Australians?
4:19–4:38
6
What impact does the Middle East conflict have on global markets?
4:38–5:34
7
How did Adidas win the marathon with new technology?
5:34–5:59
8
What were the records set during the London Marathon?
5:59–17:18
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from FEAR & GREED | Business News
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