Market snapshot
- ASX 200 futures: +0.1% to 8,540 points
- Australian dollar: +0.1% to 64.89 US cents
- S&P 500: +1.1% to 6,092 points
- Nasdaq: +1.4% to 19,913 points
- FTSE: Flat at 8,759 points
- EuroStoxx: +1.1% to 541 points
- Spot gold: -1.4% to $US3,322/ounce
- Brent crude: -5.1% to $US67.82/barrel
- Iron ore: -0.1% to $US94.35/tonne
- Bitcoin: -0.1% to $US106,036
Live updates on the major ASX indices:
Trump drops the F-bomb to stop the war
As the fragile ceasefire announced by the US President threatened to unravel yesterday, Donald Trump used the F-word to put Iran, but particularly ally Israel, back in their boxes.
“You know what, we basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f*** they’re doing,” he told reporters at the White House.
“Do you understand that?”
At ABC Middle East correspondent Matt Doran explains, Trump also left Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in no uncertainty of his displeasure about Israel using the window before the ceasefire started to launch further attacks on Iran.
Follow the latest developments in the Israel-Iran war/ceasefire
It’s hard to keep up with developments in this fast-paced conflict, but my colleagues on our national newsdesk, international desk and in the field in the Middle East are doing their best.
It’s still by far the biggest market mover, and if you want to stay across the latest there’s really no better place than the ABC’s live blog.
We have a lot of people working hard to gather information, sift it and verify it.
You can find it here and keep it open in a tab alongside this blog.
Markets bet precarious Israel-Iran ceasefire will hold
Good morning, and welcome to another day of sunshine, flowers and happiness on the markets blog.
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Nothing seems to be able to derail the market’s fundamental optimism that, in the words of Bob Marley, every little thing gonna be alright.
Despite some attacks continuing after a supposed ceasefire had come into effect, and the US President dropping the F-bomb (largely directed at a key ally), US stocks powered up as oil prices kept tumbling.
The betting is that Iran and Israel were just getting in a couple of final face-saving blows after the bell before they had to trudge back to their respective corners.
That saw oil prices continue yesterday’s slump, with Brent crude futures down 5% to $US67.90 a barrel — not too far off the four-and-a-half year lows we’d seen in the weeks leading up to Israel’s initial attacks on Iran.
Falling oil prices are good news for inflation and economic growth, so Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index climbed 1.1%, with the Nasdaq even stronger.
Continental Europe had similar gains to Wall Street, but the FTSE was flat — some huge oil companies make up a big share of London’s stock market.
With reports of potential drone attacks coming from both sides of the Israel-Iran ceasefire, it’s probably too early to declare the “12 Day War”, as President Trump dubbed it, over.
But, as Marley would say, don’t worry about a thing, and keep reading…
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