SYDNEY, April 24, 2026, 03:27 AEST
Australian stocks closed at a more than two-week low on Thursday, with the S&P/ASX 200 slipping 0.6% to 8,793.40—the softest finish since April 7. U.S.-Iran peace talks hit a wall and oil surged past $100 a barrel, sapping risk appetite. Energy names like Santos managed a 3.6% gain, but that uptick couldn’t counter fresh declines across miners and banks.
This shift carries weight: the S&P/ASX 200 stands as Australia’s top equity barometer, and March CPI figures are set for April 29—energy prices are once again driving the rates conversation. Treasury flagged last month that a brief $100 oil spike could tack on 0.75 percentage points to inflation. Right now, traders are pricing in close to a 75% probability that the Reserve Bank of Australia will hike rates by 25 basis points in early May.
The local market hasn’t kept pace with Wall Street’s rally. According to IG analyst Tony Sycamore, the ASX 200 is down roughly 1.9% this week. It’s still up 3.45% for April, though that’s well off the mid-month peak when gains reached 6.3%.
“Valuations are still expensive, and with questions hanging over growth, I just can’t turn bullish on the broader ASX 200,” said Luke Winchester, portfolio manager at Merewether Capital. For now, he noted, more investors are choosing to keep their cash on the sidelines, waiting for clearer signals from annual earnings. Indo Premier
Financials dropped another 0.7%, now logging nine sessions in the red. The big four banks slipped anywhere from 0.2% to 1%. Miners had a rough showing too, down 1%—their worst day since April 2. Rio Tinto gave up 0.6%. Fortescue shed 1.1%.
Energy stocks bucked the trend. Santos, Australia’s No. 2 oil and gas producer, stuck with its full-year outlook even after missing first-quarter revenue targets. Woodside Energy, the bigger player, picked up 3.2%. The energy sub-index posted a 3.1% gain. Saul Kavonic, who leads energy research at MST Marquee, pointed to “supportive oil price moves” lifting Santos as investors focused on the upcoming Barossa and Pikka projects, brushing aside the quarterly miss. Reuters
Healthcare stocks took another hit. CSL slid further, following news that the Pentagon has scrapped its flu vaccine mandate—pressure that piled on after Cochlear’s 40% plunge the previous day, blamed on a profit warning citing softer demand and fallout linked to the Middle East. The Pentagon’s move is “the straw that finally breaks the camel’s back” for CSL, said Marc Jocum, senior product and investment strategist at GlobalXETFs. The sector now sits at its lowest point in eight years. Reuters
Pressure isn’t just hitting stocks. This week, Reuters noted that a list of firms—Qantas, Virgin Australia, NAB, Westpac—are all pointing to rising costs. Higher fuel, freight, and credit expenses are making their way into company earnings, margins, and provisioning as the Gulf crisis drags on.
Market risk now hinges on crude sticking close to these levels, with constraints at the Strait of Hormuz potentially dragging out longer than investors are pricing in. RBA minutes from late March flagged that if oil hovers near $100 a barrel, headline inflation in Australia could touch 5% by the June quarter. That spells trouble for domestic sectors, even as energy shares continue to climb.
