Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East sent ripples through Australia’s domestic share market on Monday, as a surprise order from former U.S. President Donald Trump to block the Strait of Hormuz upended commodity prices and dragged the benchmark ASX 200 into negative territory. The move came on the heels of collapsed peace negotiations between the United States and Iran, triggering immediate volatility in global energy markets.
Brent crude prices skyrocketed 7.05% in the wake of the announcement, settling at $US101.91 per barrel by market close. The energy price surge translated directly to gains for Australia’s domestic energy sector, the largest winner on a otherwise downbeat trading day. Woodside Energy climbed 2.61%, while fellow major Santos notched a 1.65% increase. Coal producers also benefited from the broader energy market upswing, with Whitehaven Coal rising 2.59% by closing bell.
Despite the energy sector’s gains, the ASX 200 ultimately closed lower, dragged down by steep losses in gold mining and technology stocks. The benchmark index fell 34.6 points, or 0.40%, to end the session at 8926, while the broader All Ordinaries index dropped 0.5% (42.3 points) to 9113.5. Eight of the 11 tracked market sectors finished in negative territory, with only energy, communication services and utilities posting marginal gains. Among Australia’s big four retail banks, results were mixed: Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) dipped 0.1%, Westpac fell 0.42%, National Australia Bank dropped 0.9%, and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group held steady to close flat.
Technology stocks were among the hardest hit, led by a sharp 8.06% plunge in Life360 shares. The decline marked a continued sell-off following the company’s announcement last Friday that it would cut headcount to streamline operations around artificial intelligence integration. Other major tech names also posted losses: WiseTech Global fell 1.25%, while cloud accounting firm Xero dipped 1.46%.
Gold mining stocks also underperformed, as spot gold prices fell 0.46% to $US4729.95 per ounce, pressured by mounting inflation concerns tied to rising energy costs. Top Australian gold producers recorded significant losses: Northern Star Resources slipped 1.96%, Evolution Mining fell 2.44%, and Pantoro Gold dropped 3.88%.
Alongside market volatility, new wage data from CBA released Monday offered a steady picture of Australian wage growth amid rising inflation pressures. The bank’s quarterly Wage Insights series, drawn from de-identified data of 400,000 customer accounts, recorded a 0.8% rise in wages over the three months to March. Annual wage growth held steady at 3.1%, defying expectations of upward pressure from a persistently tight labour market.
Belinda Allen, CBA’s head of Australian economics, noted that wage growth has stabilized at a new baseline even as conflict-driven inflation risks rise in the wake of Middle East tensions. “The labour market remains on the tight side with the unemployment rate at 4.3 per cent according to ABS data,” Allen said. “However, according to CBA data, wages growth is finding a new base at around 3.1 per cent per year, having hovered between 3.1 per cent and 3.2 per cent since mid-2025. Our data is not yet showing any response to the tightening in labour market conditions through late 2025 and into early 2026. We are expecting some loosening in the labour market as economic growth slows in 2026.”
In corporate news, a handful of major individual stocks posted extreme moves on the back of company announcements. The a2 Milk Company plummeted 12.99% after downgrading its 2025-26 profit outlook, citing ongoing supply chain disruptions in its key Chinese market. The company cut its expected EBITDA margins and warned that net profit would be flat to lower compared to the previous financial year. Payments firm EML Payments saw an even steeper drop, falling 35.65% after downgrading its 2026 fiscal year underlying EBITDA guidance to a range of $47 million to $50 million, blaming weaker-than-forecast trading and delayed program launches. On the positive side, fertility service provider Monash IVF jumped 15.79% after confirming it had received a $351 million takeover offer at 90 cents per share from a private consortium. Supply chain firm Brambles declined 1.93% after the Federal Court partly upheld shareholder claims alleging the company made misleading public guidance disclosures.
The Australian dollar closed trading at 0.70 U.S. cents, following the day’s market shifts.