Live: Oil prices down almost 3pc as traders bet on Middle East peace

Brent crude has dropped almost 3 per cent overnight, as oil traders bet on a peace deal in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, the ASX is set to trade up today after another strong session on Wall Street overnight.

Follow the day's financial news and insights from our specialist business reporters on our live blog.

Disclaimer: this blog is not intended as investment advice.

Pinned

Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 7:59am

Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 7:59am

Market Snapshot

By Emilia Terzon

ASX 200 futures: +0.5%

Australian dollar: flat to 71.30 US cents

Wall Street: S&P500 +0.4%, Dow +1.7%, Nasdaq -0.1%

Europe: FTSE +0.3%

Spot gold: +0.8% to $US4,466/ounce

Oil: Brent futures -2.5% to $US95.38/barrel

Bitcoin: -1.1% to $US64,195

Prices at about 8:00am AEST.

Live updates on the major ASX indices:

Collapse all posts

Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 9:30am

Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 9:30am

World's largest chipmaker can't keep up with demand

By Emilia Terzon

You might have seen the GDP figures this week, showing the push towards local data centres for the AI boom.

A lot of that is imports of machinery and the chips needed. And going off this report from Reuters, Australia is not the only country demanding these materials.

"Taiwan's TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, is striving to keep up with demand and avoid becoming a bottleneck in the global supply chain during the relentless boom in artificial intelligence, its CEO said on Thursday.

C.C. Wei, speaking at the company's annual shareholder meeting in the Taiwanese city of Hsinchu, said customers are still upbeat on the outlook for AI, while TSMC is monitoring the impact of rising component costs.

"We are doing our best to ensure TSMC does not become a bottleneck," he said, adding that such constraints exist throughout the supply chain."

More on the GDP figures here:

Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 8:33am

Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 8:33am

Qantas in talks with Airbus over 20 new planes

By Emilia Terzon

Reuters is reporting that Qantas is in talks with plane manufacturer Airbus to buy 20 new planes.

Here's more of the report:

The Australian carrier is considering additional ‌Boeing 787s or the main variant of Airbus' A350, the sources said, declining to be named as the talks are confidential.

Airbus and Boeing declined to comment.

Despite geopolitical uncertainty, airlines have been expanding their wide-body fleets to ease industry shortages.

Qantas' talks come as Singapore Airlines has opened discussions to buy at least 50 of the industry's biggest jets to plan for growth in the next decade, Reuters reported earlier.

Qantas operates some 128 jets and is in the middle of a fleet renewal programme involving 200 aircraft.

Qantas has been a regular battleground for Airbus and Boeing. Its decision 20 years ago to pick Boeing's new composite 787 partly forced Airbus to ditch its original less ambitious A350 design.

Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 8:11am

Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 8:11am

Tariffs could be spooking Australian brands

By Emilia Terzon

Well a day after another Trump tariff twist, we've got a report from a major shipping platform about what brands are doing with international sales.

Quick wrap: the US president is threatening a different tariff on Australia and many other nations of 12.5% — which would be a change from the previous 10% shut down by courts.

It's the latest saga for exporters, who've been navigating a changing landscape for a year now since "Liberation Day".

Shippit's report notes this volatility:

"The international expansion enthusiasm of 2025 — when 83% of retailers cited it as important and 66% a top priority — has cooled.

"Tariff turbulence has left a mark, but retailers haven’t retreated from global trade out of fear. They’ve refocused closer to home.

"With inflation, domestic competition, and rising delivery costs demanding attention, only 14% now identify international expansion as a top priority (compared to 66% last year.)

Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 7:43am

Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 7:43am

AUD around 71 US cents as markets ponder interest rates

By Emilia Terzon

The Aussie dollar is very marginally up to just above 0.7130 US cents.

CBA has just put out its morning currency note, where they go over the appearance by the RBA's governor and her team yesterday in the Senate:

"Governor Bullock said the central bank has seen signs that its interest rate increases are starting to work through the economy.

She also expressed concern about the risk of second‑round inflation effects from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Markets continue to price around one more RBA rate hike this year.  We expect no further rate hikes by the RBA, with signs of softening activity likely to outweigh lingering inflation concerns.

Worth noting: we've got another RBA appearance today. Deputy Governor Hauser will speak in a fireside chat today around 2:30pm Sydney time.

Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 7:36am

Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 7:36am

ASX to rise after Wall Street trade

By Emilia Terzon

Good morning! Emilia here with you for the next few hours.

It looks like the Australian market could rise on Friday, after Wall Street bounced back and recorded another record day. Right now, ASX 200 futures are up 0.5%.

Meanwhile, brent crude futures have slipped down almost 3% to near their lowest price all week, at about US$95/barrel. It is as oil traders pin their hopes on a peace deal in the Middle East, and therefore on the re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz.

We'll be here all day.