ASX closes higher; Woodside, Santos slump as oil prices ease
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The news: The Australian sharemarket finished higher as most sectors rebounded from a mass selloff on Monday as some fears of a prolonged US-Israel war with Iran and elevated oil and gas prices subsided.
The benchmark ASX 200 index rose 0.89% to 8,675.2, with nine of the 11 sectoral indices in positive territory.
The energy sector (-2.9%) was the worst performer as Woodside Energy (-3.8%) and Santos (-3.5%) tracked an easing in crude oil prices after US President Donald Trump suggested overnight the war with Iran would end sooner rather than later.
Biggest movers:
- Pantoro Gold (-22.5%) — On Monday evening announced a downgrade to its FY26 production guidance by 15% from 110,000 ounces to 86,000-92,000 ounces.
- Telix Pharmaceuticals (+7.8%) — Reported positive results from a global phase 3 trial of its advanced prostate cancer treatment, TLX591.
Other news:
- CSL (+1.7%) — Committed to a USD1.5 billion ($2.12 billion) expansion of its Illinois plasma therapy manufacturing facility, which it broke ground on Monday.
- Fortescue (+1.2%) — Wholly owned subsidiary, Nascent Exploration, has completed the acquisition of Canadian-listed mineral exploration Alta Copper valued at CAD139 million ($145 million).
- Ridley Corporation (+0.7%) — Seen its shares lift in afternoon trade after outlining its FY26-FY28 growth plan.
- Orica (-3.4%) — Flagged that the strong performance seen in 2025 is expected to continue through the first five months of 2026, citing strong strategy execution and higher earnings compared with the prior corresponding period.
- Air New Zealand (-3.8%) — Suspended its FY26 guidance after warning of “unprecedented volatility” in global jet fuel markets amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East.
What’s ahead:
- The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release data on the number of industrial disputes that took place during the December quarter on Wednesday at 11:30am AEDT.
