It was only last month that I predicted we could see the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) hit 9,000 points for the first time ever.
At the time, I wrote that the Australian share market could hit this monumental milestone by the time 2026 began. I didn't think that it would happen within six weeks of that prediction. Yet here we are.
Yesterday, the ASX 200 closed at 8,918 points. But this Thursday saw the index climb more than 1% to cross the 9,000 point threshold for the first time in its history just after midday.
At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is sitting at 9,008.3 points, up a rosy 1.01% for the session thus far.
It's been a long time coming.
The ASX 200 started 2025 at 8,201 points and dipped as low as 7,343 points during the 'Liberation Day' sell-offs we saw in April. But ever since then, it has been up and to the right for ASX shares.
As it stands today, the ASX 200 Index is now up a healthy 8.86% year to date, and up 12.5% over the past 12 months – both rises well above the historical growth rate of the Australian share market. The index has also climbed more than 22% from those April lows.
So let's check out some of the shares that investors can thank for today's historic new share market highs.
Image source: Getty Images
ASX 200 all-time high: Which shares are driving the new records?
Like most common market indexes, the ASX 200 is weighted according to market capitalisation. This means that the ASX's largest companies have far more influence on the index than the smaller ones.
So let's see what those largest stocks are up to this Thursday.
As usual, we'll start with the banks. Three of the big four ASX banks are at or have made new 52-week highs today. National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) have both hit new multi-year highs this session, and both are up at least by 1.3%.
ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ) is right on its 52-week high of $33.97, and has jumped about 1.6% so far.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), the largest stock in the ASX 200 Index, is a bit of a laggard. But even so, it has still seen a decent 0.75% lift to just under $174 a share.
It's not just the banks driving the market higher, though. BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) has seen a modest rise. CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) continues to rebound from the lows we saw earlier this week, and is up 2.8%.
Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES), another ASX 200 heavyweight, has hit a new all-time record high of its own this session, topping out at $94.20 a share this afternoon.
Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) is doing its bit too, leaping more than 2% so far today. We could say the same for Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS), which has gained a little over 1%.
So, all corners of the ASX 200 appear to be pulling together to send the index to these unprecedented 9,000-point heights during this session. Let's see just how far the ASX 200 can go from here.
