The big picture
The Australian share market rose last week, led by gains in materials and consumer staples. Australian inflation remained elevated at 3.8% for the 12 months to January, driven by housing costs, which rose 6.8%. This marks seven consecutive months above the RBA’s 2-3% target range.
Geopolitical tensions escalated after the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran, killing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and prompting retaliatory attacks across parts of the Middle East. Financial markets are closely watching the risk to oil supply through the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route that handles around 20% of global oil and gas. Iran, which produces around 3-4% of global oil supply, has warned vessels against transiting the strait, with reports of ships being hit. A sustained rise in oil prices would pose risks to global growth, particularly if prices move above US$100 per barrel. The market impact will depend on how long the conflict lasts and how widely it spreads.
Global investors increased allocations to Australian bonds amid expectations of further rate hikes, supporting the Australian dollar, which rose to a three year high above US$0.71.
US share markets declined over the week amid ongoing trade uncertainty and concerns around artificial intelligence (AI) valuations. While sentiment briefly improved ahead of NVIDIA’s (NASDAQ: NVDA) earnings, the strong result was not enough to lift the market’s overall cautious tone. In contrast, European equities attracted record inflows as investors diversified away from US technology stocks.
Looking ahead, Australian GDP data is due for release, with growth expected to pick up slightly to 0.6% quarter on quarter in the fourth quarter. In the US, February jobs data will be closely watched after strong labour indicators reduced expectations for near term interest rate cuts.
New York Minute with WAM Global
Watch WAM Global’s (ASX: WGB) Deputy Portfolio Manager William Liu and Investment Analyst Will Thompson examine how the US reporting season and rapid AI adoption are reshaping market dynamics for the investment portfolio, particularly through heavy investment in AI infrastructure benefiting semiconductor and hardware companies. William and Will highlight valuation pressure in the software sector due to AI disruption fears, while noting selective opportunities in high-quality names and signs of recovery in cyclicals and industrials.
Stock watch
Last week, Salter Brothers Emerging Companies (ASX: SB2) announced the successful exit of two unlisted investments within its investment portfolio, delivering a combined uplift of $7.4 million compared to the 31 December 2025 carrying values, equivalent to an estimated 8.8 cents per share increase in the company’s pre tax net tangible assets (NTA). Prior to the exits, unlisted investments accounted for approximately 17% of the total SB2 investment portfolio. As part of our initial investment research and analysis, we assessed the carrying value of the unlisted investments and expected realisations to provide a near term catalyst for investment portfolio performance in SB2. While the SB2 share price closed up 3.5% for the week, it continues to trade at a meaningful discount to NTA. WAM Strategic Value (ASX: WAR) owns 19.8% of SB2 as disclosed in our notice of change of interest of substantial holder lodged with the ASX on 23 December 2025.
Ecoware is an Australian and New Zealand based national supplier of sustainable packaging and serviceware products used mostly in food service applications. The business was founded over 20 years ago and supplies compostable, recyclable and other products to approximately 1,500 distributors and end customers in the food services and other industries. Our investment partner Adamantem Capital acquired the business in July 2023 and aims to grow its market share with distributors, expand geographically via strategic M&A and refresh the brand strategy of the business. Adamantem have already completed the rebranding of the business from its previous brand ‘Pac Trading’ and are looking to capitalise on Ecoware’s increased scale to drive continued strong revenue growth and margin improvement.
In the media
Upcoming results webinars
We have begun hosting the FY2026 Interim Results webinars across our listed investment companies and the Future Generation companies.
You can access the webinar materials for WAM Strategic Value (ASX: WAR) here and Future Generation Global (ASX: FGG) here.
Webinars next week:
Tuesday 10 March 2026 at 11:00am (Sydney time), WAM Leaders (ASX: WLE) FY2026 Interim Results Q&A Webinar. Register here.
Wednesday 11 March 2026 at 11:00am (Sydney time), WAM Income Maximiser (ASX: WMX) FY2026 Interim Results Q&A Webinar. Register here.
Thursday 12 March 2026 at 2:00pm (Sydney time), Future Generation Australia (ASX: FGX) FY2025 Q&A Webinar. Register here.
Friday 13 March 2026 at 10:30am (Sydney time), WAM Capital (ASX: WAM), WAM Microcap (ASX: WMI), WAM Research (ASX: WAX) and WAM Active (ASX: WAA) FY2026 Interim Results Q&A Webinar. Register here.
2026 National Shareholder Presentations
The Wilson Asset Management and Future Generation teams look forward to connecting with shareholders across Australia at the 2026 National Shareholder Presentations. Register here and see below for the event dates.
You asked, we answered
Q. I’m an investor in a number of your listed investment companies. What are the dividend dates for all of your LICs?
A. We have recently announced all key dividend dates for our LICs. You can view them here.
Index returns performance table
