ASX surges into positive territory as Trump signals Iran breakthrough
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More news: Australian shares swung into positive territory in afternoon trade after 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 was up 0.8% to 8,528.8 at 1:50pm AEDT. Nine of the 11 sectoral indices were in the green, with tech stocks surging 4.1%.
ASX opens lower as miners drag
More news: Australian shares opened lower, tracking a decline in most of the major Wall Street indices overnight amid ongoing risk stemming from the US-Israel war with Iran.
The benchmark ASX 200 index was down 0.12% to 8,450.6 at 10:54am AEDT. Eight of the 11 sectoral indices were lower.
The materials sector had fallen 1.2% as the major miners BHP (-1.2%), Fortescue (-1.2%) and Rio Tinto (-1%) fell. Critical minerals producers Lynas Rare Earths (-5.3%), IGO (-4%), MIneral Resources (-3.8%) and Iluka Resources (-3.4%) also fell.
Meanwhile, Resolute Mining Group (+3.3%) lifted after signing a strategic partnership with Guinean state-owned Nimba Mining Company to evaluate gold mining opportunities.
Temple & Webster (+3.9%) was leading gains on the ASX 200 while energy stocks (+1.1%) like Viva Energy (+2.6%) and Beach Energy (+1.9%) tracked oil prices higher.
Australian shares to lift at open as Iran War weighs on Wall St
The news: Australian shares are poised to lift at the open following a trading session in which two of the three major Wall Street indices fell. Traders continued to weigh potential escalations of conflict in the Middle East.
The numbers: Updated at 7:29am AEDT:
- ASX futures: up 11 points to 8,500.
- Wall Street: Dow Jones up 0.11%, S&P 500 down 0.39% and the Nasdaq down 0.73%.
- Europe: CAC 40 up 0.92%, DAX up 1.18% and FTSE 100 up 1.61%.
- Spot gold: up 0.27% to USD4,505 per ounce.
- Oil prices: Brent up 1.69% to USD114.47/bbl and US WTI up 5.14% to USD104.76/bbl.
- AUD: down 0.39% at 68.48 US cents.
- Bitcoin: up 0.07% to USD66,595.51.
The context: A renewed threat from US President Donald Trump to attack Iranian energy and water infrastructure if the country did not re-open shipping through major oil shipping lane the Strait of Hormuz weighed on investors’ minds overnight, with two of the three major Wall Street indices finishing lower.
The US President’s statements have seesawed between claims he is close to a diplomatic deal to the end of the war while also ramping up military activity. Oil prices have been surging since the weekend after the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen seemingly entered the war.
However, bond markets lifted overnight after US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell told an event at Harvard University that inflation expectations seem to be “well anchored beyond the short term”. This eased some fears on the inflationary impact of higher energy prices, although the bond market is still on track for its worst monthly selloff since 2024, according to Bloomberg.
