Alex Gluyas

Alex Gluyas is a markets reporter at The Australian Financial Review who explains how professional investors, trading flows and sector shifts drive the performance of Australian equities and the ASX.

Equity markets and ASX stock stories

Gluyas focuses on the equity markets, with a particular emphasis on how different sectors and individual stocks shape the broader performance of the ASX. His coverage ranges from mining-led rallies, such as reporting on forecasts that mining stocks could propel the index to record levels within a year, to the drag created by underperforming technology and healthcare names in challenging periods for stock pickers. He writes about how the S&P/ASX 200 has delivered muted returns compared with long‑term averages, breaking down which sectors rewarded investors and which left them exposed. In features on so‑called “ASX dogs”, he tracks how top fund managers sift through the most disliked parts of the market for turnaround opportunities, particularly in beaten‑down technology stocks following concerns about artificial intelligence disrupting software businesses. His work also includes explaining the case for global tech giants when sentiment turns sharply against them, as in his analysis of whether the sell‑off in large technology stocks has gone too far. Across these pieces, he treats the index level, sector rotation and stock‑specific stories as parts of the same equity market narrative.

Fund managers, strategies and market sentiment

A defining feature of Gluyas’ reporting is his close attention to professional investors and how their positioning reflects and shapes market sentiment. He regularly profiles fund managers and portfolio managers, exploring the quantitative and fundamental strategies behind strong performance and the clients backing those approaches. In his front‑page markets coverage of growing concentration risk in the Australian sharemarket, he analyses how large super funds and other institutional investors are exposed when the top stocks in the index account for an outsized share of market value. His writing on “fundies” being on alert for risks to equities in specific years highlights the way portfolio managers weigh macro threats and valuation concerns when allocating capital. He covers specialist managers such as Quest Asset Partners, detailing how positions in stocks like Magellan have contributed to performance and how these investors identify “quiet achievers” on the market. He has also written on themes such as the private equity proposition, explaining why alternative assets continue to appeal to institutional investors in the context of global macro trends. Taken together, his body of work gives communications teams insight into how he uses fund manager case studies, mandates and performance data to anchor his markets coverage.

Trading flows, retail investors and market structure

Beyond stock selection and fund strategy, Gluyas reports closely on trading behaviour and the structure of the market. He has examined how record levels of online trading by retail investors, combined with algorithmic trading firms, hedge funds and passive investment flows, have amplified volatility in popular ASX names and put market darlings at risk as traders move to offload heavily traded shares. His reporting on WiseTech, noting that about one in five shares traded in a session were sold short after news of a police investigation into its billionaire founder, illustrates his ability to connect corporate events with real‑time trading dynamics and short‑selling pressure. Gluyas is a regular contributor to the Markets Live blog, co‑authoring intraday coverage that tracks how Australian shares respond to moves in Wall Street, sector‑specific shocks and company‑level news, including sessions where banks slide, miners lead gains or large caps such as Block or Tesla drive broader index moves. This live commentary sits alongside his analytical pieces, giving him a dual role in both narrating daily market action and stepping back to assess the structural forces behind those moves.

Formats and coverage scope

Gluyas writes front‑page markets pieces, weekend features and regular online coverage for The Australian Financial Review’s markets and equity markets sections. His work spans equities, commodities and currency markets, reflecting a remit that takes in both the drivers of the ASX and the global settings that influence local assets. He moves between detailed single‑stock or single‑manager profiles and broader thematic features on issues such as market concentration, sector rotations and the challenges confronting stock pickers over multi‑year periods. His repeated focus on fund managers loading up on unloved sectors, navigating difficult years and responding to rapid changes in technology and trading behaviour makes his coverage particularly relevant for stories that sit at the intersection of investor strategy and market structure. For organisations and spokespeople operating in or around the Australian equity market, his work shows a consistent interest in clear data, identifiable investor angles and explanations of how decisions in the funds management industry ripple through share prices and index performance.