Gold miners and tech stocks drag Aussie sharemarket down, but oil soars amid further Middle East tensions

The Australian sharemarket took a hit on Monday after US President Donald Trump made a bold move following the collapse of peace talks with Iran. Mr Trump ordered a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which sent the price of oil skyrocketing, with brent crude climbing 7.05 per cent to $US101.91 a barrel. But it was otherwise a rough day on the ASX 200, with gold and technology stocks suffering the most. The index fell 34.6 points, or 0.40 per cent, to 8926, while the broader All Ordinaries was down 42.3 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 9113.5. Eight of the 11 sectors ended the day in the red — with energy, communication services and utilities the only marginal winners. The Australian dollar is now buying 0.70 US cents. Woodside Energy rose 2.61 per cent and Santos was up 1.65 per cent. Coal shares were also boosted, with Whitehaven Coal up 2.59 per cent. Technology shares plunged, with WiseTech Global down 1.25 per cent and Xero dipping 1.46 per cent. Life360 also plummeted 8.06 per cent, as it continued to be sold following an announcement last Friday that the company was cutting jobs due to artificial intelligence. Gold fell 0.46 per cent to $US4729. 95 an ounce amid rising inflation worries. Northern Star slipped 1.96 per cent, Evolution Mining fell 2.44 per cent and Pantoro Gold was down 3.88 per cent. Among the big four banks, CBA dipped 0.1 per cent, Westpac fell 0.42 per cent, NAB was down 0.9 per cent and ANZ finished flat. Meanwhile, the latest CommBank Wage Insights series — which draws on de-identified salary data from about 400,000 CBA accounts — shows wages rose by 0.8 per cent over the three months to March, with annual growth steady at 3.1 per cent despite rising inflation. CommBank head of Australian economics Belinda Allen said wage growth appeared to have found a new base, with CBA’s data yet to show any response to tightening labour conditions. “The CBA wage insights series continues to show wages growth is steady heading into a period of higher inflation and inflation expectations period due to the Middle East conflict,” Ms Allen said. “The labour market remains on the tight side with the unemployment rate at 4.3 per cent according to ABS data. “However, according to CBA data, wages growth is finding a new base at around 3.1 per cent per year, having hovered between 3.1 per cent and 3.2 per cent since mid-2025. “Our data is not yet showing any response to the tightening in labour market conditions through late 2025 and into early 2026. “We are expecting some loosening in the labour market as economic growth slows in 2026.” In corporate news, the a2 Milk Company dived 12.99 per cent after downgrading its 2025-26 profit outlook, citing China supply chain disruptions. It cut expected EBITDA margins and warned net profit would be flat to lower year-on-year. EML Payments also plunged 35.65 per cent after it downgraded its 2026 fiscal year underlying EBITDA guidance to between $47m and $50m after weaker trading and delayed program launches. Monash IVF jumped 15.79 per cent after it received a $351m, 90 cents per share takeover proposal from a consortium. Brambles declined 1.93 per cent after the Federal Court partly upheld shareholder claims alleging misleading guidance disclosures.