Friday 29th May 2026
Daily Market Update: 29 May 2026
Middle East worries hit Australian shares
The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) fell 124.80 points, or 1.4 per cent, to 8592.90 on Thursday, wiping about $45 billion from the benchmark’s market value as renewed tension between Iran and the US lifted oil prices and weakened risk sentiment. Brent crude rose 3.1 per cent to $US97.20 a barrel, while the Australian dollar slipped to around US71.16¢ and gold fell 1.5 per cent to a two-month low of $US4387.
Gold miners and banks lead local losses
Gold miners were among the weakest performers, with Genesis Minerals Limited (ASX: GMD) down 10.2 per cent, Regis Resources Limited (ASX: RRL) losing 7.9 per cent and Newmont Corporation (ASX: NEM) falling 7.2 per cent. BHP Group Limited (ASX: BHP) declined 1.2 per cent, while James Hardie Industries plc (ASX: JHX) rose 3.3 per cent. The major banks also weighed on the market, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), ANZ Group Holdings Limited (ASX: ANZ), National Australia Bank Limited (ASX: NAB) and Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX: WBC) all lower. In company news, SiteMinder Limited (ASX: SDR) rallied 9.1 per cent, CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) fell 1.7 per cent, IPH Limited (ASX: IPH) declined 1.3 per cent, Eagers Automotive Limited (ASX: APE) dropped 9.7 per cent, Electro Optic Systems Holdings Limited (ASX: EOS) gained 4.2 per cent and Austal Limited (ASX: ASB) slipped 7.8 per cent.
Wall Street climbs on tech strength
US equities closed at record highs, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (NYSE: SPX) rising 0.6 per cent, the Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: IXIC) gaining 0.9 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI: DJI) edging up 0.1 per cent. Optimism around a reported extension of the US-Iran ceasefire helped ease oil concerns, while technology shares rallied after Snowflake Inc. (NYSE: SNOW) issued a strong earnings outlook and announced an AI compute deal with Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN). Snowflake Inc. (NYSE: SNOW) surged 36 per cent, while ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE: NOW), Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: PLTR), Oracle Corporation (NYSE: ORCL), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: PANW) and Atlassian Corporation (NASDAQ: TEAM) advanced, although Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE: CRM) edged lower after weaker guidance and financial stocks including BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) and Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) softened.
| Australian Indices | Daily % | Weekly % | 1 Month % | 3 Month % | 1 Year % |
| ASX 200 | -1.4 | -0.3 | -1.0 | -5.6 | 5.5 |
| Financials | -1.4 | -0.5 | -2.2 | -6.3 | 5.0 |
| Resources | -1.7 | 3.2 | 5.0 | 1.6 | 57.8 |
| Information Technology | -1.5 | -1.2 | -0.6 | -3.5 | -30.8 |
| Global Indices | Daily % | Weekly % | 1 Month % | 3 Month % | 1 Year % |
| US 500 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 6.1 | 9.6 | 16.2 |
| Europe | -0.7 | 1.7 | 4.1 | -1.1 | 7.5 |
| Japan | -0.2 | 1.8 | 4.7 | -1.1 | 17.6 |
| China top 50 | -2.2 | -0.4 | -1.7 | -5.4 | -9.0 |
| India top 50 | -1.6 | 1.5 | -0.9 | -8.7 | -21.3 |
| Fixed Interest | Daily % | Weekly % | 1 Month % | 3 Month % | 1 Year % |
| Australian Treasury Bond | -0.2 | 0.4 | 1.1 | -0.2 | 0.8 |
| Australian Corporate Bond | -0.1 | 0.4 | 1.1 | -0.1 | 1.5 |
| US Treasury | -0.3 | 0.4 | -0.6 | -2.0 | 3.0 |
| Cash | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 3.9 |
| Commodities & Crypto | Daily % | Weekly % | 1 Month % | 3 Month % | 1 Year % |
| Gold | -2.0 | -1.6 | -2.6 | -15.3 | 20.3 |
| Silver | -3.3 | -0.4 | 2.1 | -17.5 | 100.4 |
| Crude Oil | -0.1 | -7.9 | -7.4 | 53.3 | 84.5 |
| Bitcoin | -3.0 | -5.5 | -3.8 | 9.8 | -39.3 |
