SYDNEY, April 3, 2026, 04:13 GMT+11
Australian stocks slipped on Thursday, erasing earlier gains as the S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.1% to 8,579.5, marking the steepest one-day slide since March 19. Pressure mounted on miners: Rio Tinto slid 3.3%, while BHP ended 2.5% lower. Fresh comments from U.S. President Donald Trump—signaling additional strikes on Iran and offering no end date for the conflict—rattled sentiment. Hebe Chen, a market analyst at Vantage Markets, called it a blow to “fragile hope for a near-term de-escalation.” 1
Timing made the difference. With Thursday marking the last full ASX session before Good Friday and Easter Monday put markets on hold, sellers erased a good chunk of Wednesday’s 2.2% jump—momentum that had briefly sent the benchmark to its best close since March 11 thanks to bets on easing conflict. 2
The move reversed as markets sank following Trump’s televised speech, where he projected the war would drag on another two to three weeks and left the outlook for the vital Strait of Hormuz murky. Brent crude rebounded, nearing $109 a barrel. Japan’s Nikkei dropped 2.4%, while South Korea’s Kospi shed 4.7%. “When is this going to be over?” asked Russel Chesler, VanEck Australia’s head of investments and capital markets—a question he said is at the heart of the current volatility. 3
The Aussie dollar slipped 0.6% to $0.6882, with traders dialing back hopes for any swift resolution to the energy shock. That spells trouble for local stocks, as the risk of imported inflation climbs and oil prices head higher. 4
Canberra’s already scrambling to soften the impact. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledged as much as A$1 billion in interest-free loans for critical businesses. Ministers are weighing a gas security plan that would require exporters to direct supplies to the domestic market ahead of winter. Officials have flagged the ongoing war as a factor upending fuel and gas markets in a nation that relies heavily on imports. 5
Equities are staring down a bigger threat: pricier energy could push inflation back up. Citi’s chief Australian economist, Josh Williamson, flagged that the bank trimmed its 2026 growth forecast to 2.0% from 2.6% and now sees consumer inflation peaking at 5.5%. He cited mounting “stagflation risks”—think sluggish growth paired with hotter prices. This week’s Reserve Bank of Australia minutes revealed officials believe oil around $100 a barrel could drive headline inflation near 5% for the June quarter. 4
ASX Ltd slipped 0.3% on Thursday, with ASIC’s final report casting a shadow. The regulator said the exchange operator prioritized shareholder returns at the expense of shoring up essential market infrastructure, injecting another layer of governance worry into an already fragile session. 6
The benchmark closed the holiday-shortened week up 0.7%. With the ASX dark on Friday and again on Monday, and Albanese cautioning that the economic fallout from the war will linger for months, investors are left exposed—two days of headlines and oil swings before trading picks up again on Tuesday. 1
