The Australian share market closed in negative territory on Tuesday, dragged down by two major global shocks: a projectile attack on a Qatari LNG carrier in the strategic Strait of Hormuz that sent crude oil prices surging, and unexpected volatility in global tech markets following mixed results from Samsung Electronics. The benchmark ASX 200 index shed 27.10 points, or 0.31%, to settle at 8803.90, while the broader All Ordinaries index dropped 32.30 points, or 0.36%, to close at 9004.70. The Australian dollar also edged lower, declining 0.17% against the U.S. dollar to trade at 69.43 U.S. cents.
Seven of the 11 major sectors tracked on the ASX recorded losses for the session, with the materials sector – led by large-scale mining and gold producers – suffering the steepest declines. Major miners slumped an average of 2.64% as rising energy costs increased operational expenses for the resource extraction industry. BHP shares fell 1.92% to $58.87, Rio Tinto declined 1.77% to $168.14, and Fortescue Metals Group slipped 0.76% to $18.38.
The attack on the Qatari state-owned LNG carrier, which occurred as the vessel transited the Strait of Hormuz – a critical global energy chokepoint through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil and LNG supplies pass – pushed Brent crude oil prices up 1.2% to a one-week high of $72.85 U.S. per barrel. The oil price surge also spilled over to gold markets, pulling gold prices down 0.8% to $4130 U.S. per ounce. That decline hit gold producers hard: Northern Star Resources dropped 5.10% to $20.66, Evolution Mining fell 5.31% to $11.94, and Newmont declined 2.43% to $137.61. Rare earths miner Lynas Rare Earths also closed 6.37% lower at $16.91, following its announcement of a $50 million ordinary equity investment in JS Link to support construction of a new magnet processing factory in Malaysia.
Losses across the materials and mining space were partially offset by strong gains for Australia’s four largest retail banks. Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose 1.24% to $166.70, Westpac Banking Corporation surged 2.38% to $36.13, National Australia Bank jumped 1.47% to $39.22, and ANZ Group added 1.26% to $35.44.
Beyond the energy market disruption, the ASX also faced downward pressure from broad weakness in overseas equity markets. U.S. futures traded in negative territory during Australian trading hours, with Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.7%. In South Korea, the tech-heavy KOSPI index plummeted 8% in early trading, triggering a 20-minute market-wide circuit breaker that halted all trading activity. The sell-off was sparked by unexpected investor reaction to Samsung Electronics’ quarterly results: even though the global tech giant projected a 19-fold jump in second-quarter operating profit, its share price still fell 8% on the day, dragging down broader market sentiment.
Marc Jocum, senior product and investment strategist at Global X, noted that the domestic Australian economic calendar is unusually light this week, leaving local markets highly sensitive to offshore market developments. “That leaves the Australian share market vulnerable to every twist in the global narrative, whether it’s developments in the Middle East, Asian market volatility, or the resilience of the AI trade, with overseas headlines likely to matter more than domestic data over the coming days,” Jocum explained.
Despite the overall market downturn, a number of individual stocks posted notable gains on Tuesday. Logistics technology firm WiseTech Global saw its shares soar 5.65% to $37.37, after billionaire founder Richard White announced he would step down from his role as executive chairman. White will retain a seat on the company’s board and will take up the new position of chief innovation officer. Media companies Nine Entertainment and Sky New Zealand both closed higher after announcing they had secured joint broadcast rights for both men’s and women’s NRL competitions from 2028 to 2034 for their respective home markets. Nine’s shares gained 0.50% to $0.92, while Sky New Zealand’s rallied 3.75% to $2.77. Wealth management firm Netwealth also climbed 6.73% to $24.43 after upgrading its forecast for funds under administration, projecting growth of between 17% and 30% by the 2027 financial year. Finally, casino operator Star Entertainment gained 1.05% to $0.096 after announcing it had settled a long-running tax dispute with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) related to pre-2020 junket operations. As part of the settlement, Star will receive a $33 million refund from the $88 million it had previously paid to the tax office to resolve the dispute.