ASX ends higher as Trump’s Iran comments spur tech, gold rally

The news: The Australian sharemarket closed higher after swinging into positive territory around midday as The Wall Street Journal reported US President Trump told aides he’s willing to end the military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed.

The benchmark ASX 200 index ended 0.25% higher at 8,481.8, having fallen 0.6% in early trading before surging as high as 1% around lunchtime.

Biggest movers:

• Resolute Mining (+8.6%) — Led a rally in gold stocks, with Catalyst Metals (+5.9%), Genesis Minerals (+5.8%) and Predictive Discovery (+4.2%) also gaining.
• Whitehaven Coal (-6.0%) — Worst hit in a selloff in energy stocks. Fellow coal miners Yancoal (-4.7%) and New Hope (-3.9%) also retreated, as did oil producers Karoon Energy (-3.7%) and Santos (-1.1%).

Others news:

• Collins Foods (-0.3%) — Entered into a legally binding conditional arrangement to sell most of its Taco Bell franchise stores to a company affiliated with the brand owner of Taco Bell and Restaurant Brands Australia Holdings. Collins Foods will close the rest of the stores.
• KMD Brands (suspended) — Reported a first-half loss of NZD13.1 million ($10.9 million) and announced a NZD65.3 million equity raising. The group also announced that chairman David Kirk will depart in the “coming months”.
• Electro Optics Systems (-0.5%) — Announced two new contract wins in the US totalling a combined $17 million. The company also provided an update on discussions with South Korea’s Goldrone, telling investors it expects its USD80 million ($117 million) conditional order to become undontitional in Q2 2026.
• Koala (+11.8%) — Floated on the ASX under the ticker ‘KOA’ following a $68 million IPO.