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business/news//Australian Financial Review
The Australian sharemarket advanced on Monday as crude oil fell below $US100 a barrel.
Brent crude oil dropped 5.5% to $US97.86 as US-Iran deal to reopen Hormuz appears imminent.
KEY POINTS
Coal miner shares surged due to a deadly coal mine explosion in China's Shanxi province raising supply concerns.
Qantas will not receive its Airbus A350-1000ULR aircraft until next year due to supply chain disruptions.
Fortescue's Elizabeth Gaines will leave the board on June 13, to be replaced by Sigrid Kaag.
Charter Hall upgraded its 2026 operating earnings guidance for the third time to $1.03 per share.
The Australian sharemarket advanced on Monday as crude oil fell below $US100 a barrel after US officials signalled that a deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the conflict may be imminent.
The S & P/ASX 200 Index closed up by 0.4 per cent, or 35 points, to 8692, with six of the 11 sectors stronger, buoyed by gains on Wall Street at the end of last week. The US market is closed on Monday for the Memorial Day holiday.
Stocks climbed as Brent crude dropped 5.5 per cent to $US97.86 US officials suggested a deal with Iran was near that would help resume the flow of oil and gas through the vital Middle East waterway after 12 weeks of an effective blockade. That optimism helped the Australian dollar climb 0.6 per cent to US71.70¢.
Peace dividend
SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said the market was pivoting from pricing geopolitical fear towards pricing a potential peace dividend on expectations of Hormuz reopening.
“If oil and [bond] yields continue moving lower together as Hormuz traffic normalises, equities could continue to extend higher simply because a significant portion of the inflation scare that helped push yields to multi-year highs would begin to reverse,” he said.
Mining stocks were stronger as gold climbed 1 per cent to $US4554.65 an ounce on the prospect that weaker oil prices could reduce inflationary headwinds for bullion. Resolute Mining soared 9.4 per cent to $1.34, while Newmont added 5.1 per cent to $158.66 and Northern Star 5.7 per cent to $19.91.
Coal miners also surged after a deadly explosion at a coal mine in China’s Shanxi province sent Chinese coal prices rallying on concerns about supply disruptions. Whitehaven Coal rose 8.7 per cent to $8.87 and Yancoal 7.5 per cent to $7.04.
That helped limit the damage from the energy sector amid the weaker oil price. Woodside Energy dropped 4.2 per cent to $30.74 and Viva Energy lost 5.6 per cent to $2.18.
Banks had a mixed session as Commonwealth Bank lost 0.7 per cent to $164.60 after Citi said its share price was yet to reflect the impacts from the federal budget.
National Australia Bank was 1.1 per cent higher at $38.28 after Citi upgraded the stock. Westpac added 0.6 per cent to $36.77, and the broker’s preferred bank, ANZ, added 0.8 per cent to $35.77.
Stock in focus
In company news, Qantas rose 5.8 per cent to $9.18, buoyed by the easing oil price. This is despite Airbus announcing that supply chain disruptions had delayed the airline receiving specially designed A350-1000ULR aircraft – which is capable of flying Sydney to London non-stop – until next year.
Fortescue gained 1.7 per cent to $21.86 as executive director and former chief executive Elizabeth Gaines plans to exit the board on June 13 after a 13-year stint. Former Dutch finance minister Sigrid Kaag will join the board.
Charter Hall rallied 6.7 per cent to $20.62 after the property group upgraded its 2026 operating earnings guidance for a third time to $1.03 per share.