标签： Oceania

A sharp downturn swept across Australia’s benchmark share index on Friday, driven by two interconnected pressures: escalating geopolitical risk from a newly revealed U.S. military threat against Iran and growing market expectations that interest rates will remain higher for longer across the globe.

The S&P/ASX 200, Australia’s primary blue-chip index, closed down 66.70 points, or 0.75%, to settle at 8772.30, marking its worst single-day performance in July. The broader All Ordinaries index followed suit, dropping 76.60 points, or 0.85%, to end the session at 8941.50. The Australian dollar also weakened, slipping to 69.86 U.S. cents by market close.

Seven out of the ASX’s 11 industry sectors closed in negative territory, led by steep declines in information technology, materials, and consumer discretionary stocks. The technology sector bore the brunt of the selloff: cloud accounting firm Xero fell 4.45% to $61.58, logistics software developer WiseTech Global plunged 4.64% to $30.02, and communications technology firm Codan dropped 4.13% to $39.65.

Major mining firms also faced significant downward pressure. BHP Group declined 2.94% to $58.85, Rio Tinto fell 1.69% to $159.99, and Fortescue Metals Group closed down 1.01% at $18.57.

The trigger for much of the market jitters was comments from former U.S. President Donald Trump, who confirmed to U.S. news outlet Axios that he was considering a “massive attack” on Iran, larger than any previous U.S. military action against the country. “I am close to making a decision. We are all set for it,” Trump stated, amplifying existing geopolitical instability in the Middle East that already included 13 consecutive days of strikes targeting Iran and Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Commonwealth Bank sustainable and energy economist John Oh noted that the threat spooked already jittery global and domestic markets. “Although the scale of the ‘massive attack’ considered by U.S. President Trump remains unclear, any expansion of attacks to include key civilian and energy infrastructure, and the risk of subsequent Iranian retaliation, would continue to worry markets,” he explained.

The heightened risk of regional conflict sent global crude oil prices soaring, with Brent crude jumping more than 6% to hold near $100 U.S. per barrel, its highest level since May. The oil price surge in turn stoked fears of renewed inflationary pressure, which raised expectations for further interest rate hikes from the U.S. Federal Reserve. This dynamic pushed gold prices down 2.5% to $4048 U.S. per ounce, dragging down Australian gold producers: Northern Star Resources fell 3.91% to $19.93, while Evolution Mining declined 2.42% to $11.29.

Domestic monetary policy expectations added further downward pressure to the equity market. Australia’s 10-year government bond yield climbed back above 5%, a level last seen during the 2011 Eurozone debt crisis, as money markets priced in a higher probability of future Reserve Bank of Australia rate hikes.

Global X strategy analyst Joseph Marassa noted that the shift in rate expectations had a notable impact on equity valuations. “It marked the ASX’s worst session of the month,” he said. “Markets will be focused on next week’s inflation print, following yesterday’s hotter-than-expected unemployment data. Market-implied odds of a rate hike next month have risen above 40 per cent, double last week’s level.”

Even positive corporate news failed to stem the downward trend for several listed firms. Qantas Airways shares fell 1.96% to $9.99 despite the airline confirming a key milestone for its Project Sunrise initiative, which will launch non-stop Sydney-to-London flights from October 2027. Cochlear shares slipped 0.45% to $111.61 even after the hearing implant manufacturer confirmed it would retain duty-free access to the U.S. market following the conclusion of a U.S. government investigation. ASX Limited itself closed down 1.23% at $54.33 after announcing that chief financial officer Andrew Tobin, who joined the market operator in 2022, will retire from his role.

One of South Korea’s most high-profile and costly divorce cases has concluded a major new chapter this week, with a revised ruling cutting the massive settlement that leading tech tycoon Chey Tae-won must pay to his ex-wife Roh Soh-yeong to $644 million.

Chey, 65, serves as chairman of SK Group, the South Korean conglomerate that owns SK hynix, a global industry-leading memory chip manufacturer that counts AI giant Nvidia among its key clients. SK Group is widely regarded as a core pillar of South Korea’s tech-driven national economy, making the long-running legal battle over the couple’s assets a closely watched case both in business and political circles.

The pair were married in 1988 at Seoul’s presidential Blue House, when Roh’s father Roh Tae-woo was serving as South Korea’s president. Though they share three children, the couple has lived separately for more than 15 years. Chey publicly admitted to fathering a child with another woman in 2015, and filed for divorce two years later. Formal court proceedings began in 2022 after mediation efforts failed to resolve the split.

In 2024, the Seoul High Court issued an initial ruling ordering Chey to pay Roh a record 1.38 trillion won, equal to roughly $940 million at the time. The unprecedented size of the payout led South Korean media to label the dispute the “divorce of the century.” Chey appealed the ruling to South Korea’s Supreme Court, which sent the case back to the lower court for re-evaluation. That reconsideration resulted in Friday’s adjusted ruling, cutting the settlement to 944 billion won ($644 million). The revised ruling does not mark the end of the legal process, however: either party still has the right to appeal the new decision back to the Supreme Court for a final ruling.

At the heart of the acrimonious dispute has been debate over the definition and valuation of the couple’s shared marital assets, primarily Chey’s multi-billion dollar controlling stake in SK Group. The 2024 lower court ruling included a 30 billion won slush fund established by Roh’s father to support SK Group’s early growth as part of Roh’s contribution to the couple’s shared assets, arguing that the fund helped grow Chey’s holdings. But last October, the Supreme Court struck down that reasoning, ruling the slush fund amounted to illegal bribes and could not be counted as a legitimate contribution to the marital estate.

In Friday’s new ruling, the Seoul High Court upheld Roh’s entitlement to one-third of the couple’s shared assets accumulated during the marriage. The ruling noted that Chey’s SK Group shareholdings grew substantially during the marriage through his executive work, while Roh contributed to that growth through managing the household, raising the couple’s children, and carrying out public-facing duties on behalf of the conglomerate. The court also explicitly accounted for the dramatic surge in SK Group’s share value that has occurred since the couple separated, driven in large part by the global AI boom that has sent demand for SK hynix’s memory chips soaring. SK Group’s stock price has more than tripled since December 2015, when Chey’s extramarital affair became public. Chey’s current stake in the conglomerate is valued at approximately $5.5 billion based on recent public regulatory filings.

Beyond the property settlement, the Supreme Court has already ordered Chey to pay a separate 2 billion won in alimony to Roh. Roh, 65, has built an independent career in the cultural sector, where she operates a prominent digital art museum.

One of Australia’s largest utility providers, Origin Energy, has confirmed a major cybersecurity incident that has put the personal information of millions of its customers at risk, prompting urgent warnings for heightened scam awareness across the country. The unfolding breach, which was first flagged to the public last Wednesday, took a serious turn on Thursday when company executives confirmed that unauthorized actors had successfully accessed internal systems and stolen sensitive customer data.

Initial media reports from *The Australian*, citing correspondence with the alleged perpetrator, claimed that roughly two million customer accounts had been compromised. To date, Origin Energy has not issued a confirmed number of affected accounts, out of its total 4.8 million residential and commercial customer base. According to the company’s official disclosure, the compromised data can include full names, residential addresses, dates of birth, contact telephone numbers, detailed account information, partial credit card numbers (only the final four digits), and partial bank account details (only the final three digits). Company officials have stressed that the incomplete financial information stolen cannot be used directly to make unauthorized purchases or access customer bank accounts, but that does not eliminate the long-term risk posed by the breach.

Cybersecurity experts warn that the stolen data creates a perfect breeding ground for sophisticated targeted scams. Tyler McGee, head of Asia-Pacific operations for global cybersecurity firm McAfee, who himself received a breach warning from Origin, noted that scammers routinely leverage high-profile data breaches to exploit consumer trust. “Until there is full clarity around the scope of the breach, it is impossible to know exactly how exposed impacted consumers are, but the core fact remains: any stolen personal information allows scammers to craft more convincing targeted scams, either for their own use or to sell on to other criminal actors,” McGee explained. Stolen personal details let scammers create messages that reference specific personal information, making fraudulent communications appear legitimate, as if they came from Origin or another trusted business the customer interacts with regularly. For criminal groups, McGee added, this is a numbers game: even if only a tiny fraction of targets fall for the scam, the operation turns a profit.

New details that emerged on Friday paint a clearer picture of the alleged perpetrator. *The Australian* reported that the hacker, who uses the online alias Edison Walhour, claims to be an Australian former Origin employee. The individual reportedly used a valid former employee login to access Origin’s customer management system, which is provided by third-party vendor Kraken. In a surprising development, the hacker has reportedly backed away from their initial threat to auction the full stolen dataset on public dark web marketplaces. It remains unclear what prompted this change of plans.

In response to the incident, McGee has outlined clear steps Origin customers can take to protect themselves from subsequent scams. First, he advised all potentially impacted customers to update their online account passwords immediately and enable two-factor authentication wherever possible to block unauthorized access. Second, customers should exercise extreme caution around any unsolicited emails, text messages, or phone calls that ask them to click links, share personal information, or make payments. “Consumers need to maintain a heightened state of awareness for the foreseeable future, and anyone looking for extra protection should consider investing in commercial scam protection tools,” McGee added. He also noted that once personal data is leaked by criminals, it remains in circulation permanently, creating ongoing risk for affected individuals.

McGee also pointed out that Australian companies are disproportionately targeted by hackers for two key structural reasons. Historically, Australian corporations have been more willing to pay large ransom demands to end breaches quickly, making them attractive targets. Additionally, Australian law enforcement has far limited capacity to pursue hackers based outside of the country, unlike jurisdictions such as the United States, which routinely works with international partners to extradite cybercriminals for prosecution.

Origin Energy chief executive Frank Calabria has issued a formal apology to customers affected by the incident. “I am sorry this has happened. Customers trust Origin with their personal information, and I apologize for the stress and impact this may cause,” Calabria said. The company is currently working alongside independent cybersecurity experts and law enforcement authorities to investigate the breach, secure its systems, and mitigate further risk to customers.

As the investigation continues, authorities and cybersecurity professionals are urging all 4.8 million Origin customers to remain alert to scam activity in the coming months, regardless of whether they have been formally notified that their data was compromised.