SYDNEY, May 2, 2026, 03:10 (AEST)
Australian shares broke their eight-day losing streak on Friday, helped by gains in miners and supermarket names after a tough stretch for risk assets. The S&P/ASX 200 ended 0.74% higher at 8,729.80, with the All Ordinaries adding 0.8% to finish at 8,955. Still, the benchmark posted a five-day decline of 0.65%.
Timing’s key here. Out of 33 economists Reuters surveyed from April 27 to April 30, 30 predict the Reserve Bank of Australia will push the cash rate up by 25 basis points to 4.35% on May 5. “Inflation is basically too high in Australia,” AMP’s My Bui said. Westpac’s Luci Ellis flagged more uncertainty after May, calling the outlook “necessarily less certain.” Reuters
Oil’s still calling the shots. Brent crude slipped 1.47% to $108.78 a barrel, Reuters said, while WTI lost 3.24% to $101.67 on Friday—numbers moving after Iran floated new talks but kept the Strait of Hormuz locked down. About 20% of global oil and LNG flows are at stake with that chokepoint. Price Futures Group’s Phil Flynn called the Iranian proposal “an off-ramp” for the U.S. Reuters
Materials outperformed on the local board. ABC flagged broad sector strength, with basic materials stocks leading the way: Rio Tinto climbed 2.7%, Newmont’s local shares advanced 2.2%. Woodside dropped 1.3% as oil and gas names slipped; Santos ticked up 0.3%.
Coles added some momentum to the consumer staples space. The grocer reported a 3.1% bump in third-quarter sales revenue, reaching A$10.703 billion over the 12 weeks ending March 29. Supermarket sales climbed 4.0%, while e-commerce revenue jumped 24.8%. CEO Leah Weckert pointed to “value and availability” as top priorities for households watching their budgets in the coming months.
The read-through on competition left room for debate. Woolworths, which outpaces Coles in size, posted a 4.5% lift in third-quarter sales to A$18.10 billion just a day before, topping analyst consensus from Visible Alpha. Still, the stock fell 0.7% on Friday, according to ABC, as broker downgrades took hold after the results.
ANZ traded lower, dropping 2.8% despite posting a statutory profit of A$3.65 billion and cash profit of A$3.78 billion. CEO Nuno Matos described the bank as having a “front-row seat to global developments,” cautioning that extended oil constraints risk pushing the crisis beyond inflation, into supply and growth concerns. ANZ
Overseas sentiment gave a boost, but domestic rate concerns lingered. On Thursday, the Dow climbed 1.62%, with the S&P 500 up 1.02% and the Nasdaq gaining 0.89%. Then, according to Reuters, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq notched fresh record highs on Friday, driven by earnings momentum.
Still, the bounce comes with a hitch: fuel. Devin Cattelan, portfolio manager at Verecan Capital Management, told Reuters that stubbornly high oil prices could drive up transport and manufacturing costs, which, in turn, “cascade into higher prices overall.” That’s nearly identical to what Coles singled out—fuel, freight, and packaging—and matches the external risk ANZ factored into its increased collective provisions. Reuters
