the COB: market mayhem

Описание: Australian stocks started the trading week plunging to four-month lows, as the market mayhem caused by the Middle East conflict exacerbated.


The S&P/ASX 200 dropped a further 2.9% to close at 8,599 points. It was the biggest one day sell-off since US President Trump roiled markets with his "Liberation Day" tariffs last April.

Oil prices surged nearly 30% to US$120 a barrel, the highest level since the Russian invasion of Ukraine four years ago. The energy sector gained 1.8% with Woodside Energy up 2%, Santos firmer by 2.5% and Karoon up 10.2%.



The miners were in the red, with BHP losing 5.1% over the session. And gold was no place to hide, with investors favouring energy stocks. Northern Star fell 6.2%.



The financial sector also suffered from the negative market sentiment. All major major banks lost some ground, with CBA shedding 1.8%.



In corporate stories, Pro Medicus signed two US contract renewals worth $40 million dollars.



And Dyno Nobel dropped 9.7% as it sold the remaining of its fertiliser business to Mayfair Australia for a symbolic $1.


Tomorrow, we’ll get business and consumer sentiment indexes from NAB and Westpac. While CSL, Coles and Qantas are among companies trading ex-dividend.