Sydney, May 19, 2026, 03:04 (AEST)
Australian stocks sank on Monday, with the S&P/ASX 200 ending at 8,505.3, down 125.5 points or 1.45%, hitting a seven-week low. The All Ordinaries slipped 1.52% to 8,735.4. Company downgrades and a jump in oil prices weighed on risk appetite. The Australian dollar traded around 71.36 U.S. cents.
The timing isn’t great. The selloff hit while global investors were already facing up to inflation and rate worries. U.S. Treasury yields were climbing, and oil kept moving up.
U.S. 10-year Treasury yields in New York touched 4.630%, a level not seen since February 2025. Brent crude was up 1.4%. “Interest rates and oil” are front of mind for investors in a “complicated macro backdrop,” said Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist at LPL Financial. Reuters
Industrials led losses in Sydney, dropping 4.0%. Materials and real estate each fell around 2.8%. Energy bucked the trend, up 2.0%, helped by gains in Woodside and Santos as oil prices climbed. BHP tracked the wider materials selloff. Tuas finished down 62.8% in the ASX 300, with Elders off 22.9% and Brambles down 20.2%.
Brambles was the main laggard on the index. The pallet and logistics group lowered its fiscal 2026 outlook. The company now sees underlying profit up 3% to 5%, down from a previous 8% to 11% forecast. It blamed repair capacity limits in the U.S. network, which hit earnings by about US$60 million. CEO Graham Chipchase said customer needs were “non-negotiable” but warned the problem will “weigh on FY26 and 1H27 financials.”
Elders shares dropped hard, despite delivering a stronger first half. The rural services group reported underlying EBIT of A$76.6 million, up 33%. Still, the company flagged higher diesel costs as a problem. CEO Mark Allison cited “seasonal improvements driving optimism for the winter crop,” but said there was still “price volatility in fuel and fertiliser.” ASX Announcements
Tuas dropped after Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority put its review of the planned merger between Tuas’s Simba Telecom arm and Keppel’s M1 on hold. The deal put M1’s value at S$1.43 billion. Keppel CEO Loh Chin Hua said the May 21 deadline on the deal would pass without a decision.
Downgrades on Monday have raised fear the pain won’t stop with just a few stocks. UBS equity strategist Richard Schellbach told clients he warned a wave of earnings downgrades would hit the market in April, May and June. “It’s obviously in motion now,” he said. The Australian
Rates are still a sticking point. The Reserve Bank of Australia bumped its cash rate up by 25 basis points to 4.35% at its May meeting, partly rolling back last year’s cut. Governor Michele Bullock said the board had “space to be alert to both sides of the risks.” Reserve Bank of Australia
Monday’s drop might not be the end of the selling. The RBA’s base case is that oil supply issues will ease before the end of 2026, but the central bank also maps out worst-case scenarios. If Middle East problems last longer, energy costs and inflation could jump; that would squeeze company margins and stock valuations together.
Tuesday’s open looks set for a tight move. Investors are watching for any bargain hunters in Brambles, Elders or Tuas, while the ASX 200 sits just below 8,500 and could see another leg down.
