ASX falls to lowest since May; $300b lost since Iran war began

The Australian sharemarket declined to a 10-month low on Monday as escalating rhetoric between the United States and Iran heightened fears of a prolonged conflict in the Middle East.

The S&P/ASX 200 fell 62.50 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 8365.90 – the lowest close since May 2025 – after tumbling as much as 2 per cent earlier in the session that briefly sent the benchmark into a correction.

The benchmark is now down 9.1 per cent from its March 2 peak, wiping more than $300 billion from the market since the conflict began.

Oil prices wavered around $US112 a barrel after US President Donald Trump issued a 48-hour ultimatum for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on energy infrastructure. Iran then warned any attack would trigger the closure of the waterway and retaliation against US and Israeli assets.

“The week ahead feels like it could be very consequential for global markets as the US-Iran war potentially comes to a head,” Westpac wrote in a report to clients. “President Trump’s ultimatum risks aggravating the escalation cycle and bringing substantially more damage to regional energy infrastructure.”

The higher oil and gas prices have pushed the ASX’s energy sector up 20 per cent in the past month. On Monday, Ampol lifted 1 per cent to $33.44, Santos 1 per cent to $8.06 and Woodside Energy gained 2.2 per cent to $34.79.

Other stocks to climb on Monday included Eagers Automotive, which jumped 6.1 per cent to $21.42 amid expectations higher fuel costs would bolster demand for electric vehicles.

Those gains were offset by further selling in the mining sector after gold slid another 2.7 per cent to $US4375 an ounce as rising energy prices dampened expectations for interest rate cuts.

Catalyst Metals dropped 14.4 per cent to $5.63, Ora Banda Mining fell 11 per cent to $1.05, and Newmont 7.5 per cent to $131.84.

The mining giants were also sold off with BHP down 0.7 per cent to $47.10 and Rio Tinto 1.7 per cent to $144.41.

And investors took profits in major banks, weighing further on the bourse with Commonwealth Bank down 0.8 per cent to $174.25, Westpac by 0.9 per cent to $40.35, ANZ 0.9 per cent to $36.27, and National Australia Bank 1.8 per cent to $44.74.

Stocks in focus

In corporate news, Medibank rose 2.4 per cent to $4.31 after it lost a court bid to keep key reports confidential in its 2022 cybercrime case.

SGH added 0.2 per cent at $39.59 as it appointed Matt McKenzie as chief executive of its Boral building products division.

Retailer Premier Investments rose 5.7 per cent to $12.66 after an upgrade from Jarden.

Humm fell 5.5 per cent to 68.5¢ as it progressed due diligence discussions with Credit Corp on a potential takeover.

And ARN Media dropped 4.6 per cent to 31.5¢ after Kyle Sandilands launched legal action over the cancellation of his $100 million contract.

That concludes our coverage for today. We’ll be back again soon to bring you more live markets news and expert analysis.