Live: ASX headed for cautious start, Wall Street jumps as AI-related stocks rebound

The Australian share market is likely to start its day relatively flat despite a rebound in oil prices ahead of the next round of US-Iran peace talks.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a record high after welcoming Google's parent Alphabet to the exclusive 30-stock index. Follow live.

See how the trading day unfolds on our blog.

Disclaimer: this blog is not intended as investment advice.

Pinned

Tue 30 Jun 2026 at 7:48am

Tue 30 Jun 2026 at 7:48am

Market snapshot

By David Chau

ASX futures: flat at 8,824 points

ASX 200: +0.7% to 8,823 points

Australian dollar: -0.2% at 68.86 US cents

Wall Street: Dow Jones (+0.6%), S&P 500 (+1.2%), Nasdaq Composite (+2.1%)

Europe: DAX (-0.2%), FTSE (-0.2%), Stoxx 600 (flat)

Spot gold: -1.8% to $US4,016/ounce

Oil: Brent futures (+1.1% at $US72.78/barrel), WTI futures (+1.8% to $US70.48/barrel)

Iron ore: flat at $US100.25/tonne

Bitcoin: +1.1% at $US60,232

Prices current around 7:30am AEST

Collapse all posts

Filter Posts

All

8

Key Events

5

Market snapshot

1

Comments

1

Tue 30 Jun 2026 at 8:34am

Tue 30 Jun 2026 at 8:34am

Markets recap: Alan Kohler's finance report

By David Chau

In case you need a refresher before the ASX opens, I can certainly recommend you watch Alan Kohler's finance report.

In last night's segment on the 7pm News, Alan discussed the surprisingly subdued market reaction to US-Iran hostilities over the weekend.

He also displayed a chart comparing previous 'booms and busts' with the current AI investment frenzy:

Tue 30 Jun 2026 at 8:31am

Tue 30 Jun 2026 at 8:31am

Whoops

By Stephanie Chalmers

This morning you have negatives in front of the Wall st stock market figures. They should be positive.

- Chris

Thanks Chris, we've fixed that in our snapshot. Indeed Wall Street ended higher.

Typos strike the best of us, especially pre-8am.

Key Event

Tue 30 Jun 2026 at 8:25am

Tue 30 Jun 2026 at 8:25am

ASIC says too many Australians' retirement savings are being wiped out

By David Chau

Superannuation funds have been called out by the corporate regulator for a 'troubling' lack of safeguards.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) arrived at this view after examining six investment trustees with $300 billion in retirement savings.

ASIC commissioner Simone Constant says "immediate attention" is needed to deal with persistent gaps in advice fee controls.

You can listen to her interview with The Business guest-host David Taylor here:

Key Event

Tue 30 Jun 2026 at 8:12am

Tue 30 Jun 2026 at 8:12am

Private health group Ramsay given special access to public hospital emergency patients

By David Chau

Ramsay Health Care has been granted special access to a Queensland public emergency department (ED) under a scheme that gives the corporate behemoth priority to transfer privately insured patients to its nearby facilities.

Under the trial, set to be rolled out nationally, a Ramsay-employed nurse placed in the ED at Sunshine Coast University Hospital facilitates the transfer of patients with private health insurance.

However, consumer advocates are worried patients could feel pressured and want those concerns taken into account when evaluating the pilot program.

Ramsay says it is coordinating with other hospitals around Australia to introduce similar nurse liaison roles.

For more, here's the story by Alison Branley:

Key Event

Tue 30 Jun 2026 at 8:03am

Tue 30 Jun 2026 at 8:03am

Are the wheels falling off the AI investment boom?

By David Chau

Australia's big superannuation groups are set to unveil yet another year of solid, if not spectacular gains.

But it's worth noting the returns have been driven by what many perceive as a rapidly inflating bubble centred around one key issue: AI spending.

It's a boom driven by a mere handful of corporations that have embarked on a race for domination that not all will win.

Along the way, their market valuations have been bloated beyond any reasonable level as international investment funds have poured into them.

While it's possible the new technology will enhance productivity, it's equally possible that too much money has been spent chasing elusive gains.

For more, here's the latest analysis from the ABC's chief business correspondent Ian Verrender:

Key Event

Tue 30 Jun 2026 at 7:57am

Tue 30 Jun 2026 at 7:57am

Dow Jones hits new record high, after adding Google's parent company to index

By David Chau

Wall Street's tech and AI stocks rebounded from last week's sell-off, driving the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite up by 1.2% and 2.1% respectively.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6% to a new record high of 52,183 points.

This was after Google's parent company Alphabet was added to the Dow for the first time, which sent its shares 5% higher.

Essentially, the tech giant will experience higher demand as ETFs (exchange traded funds) and other investment funds that track the performance of the Dow index will have to buy its shares, which will boost its share price.

There are only 30 stocks in the Dow index, which also includes stocks like Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Nike, Disney, JP Morgan and McDonald's.

So the admission of Alphabet means one company was kicked out of the index.

And that company was American telco giant Verizon, which saw a meagre 2% increase to its share price over the past 12 months.

Alphabet, on the other hand,  jumped 98% over the past year, mainly driven to investors' insatiable demand shares of tech giants investing heavily in artificial intelligence infrastructure.

The AI trade, arguably, is showing signs of excessive speculation, which my colleague Ian Verrender has written an insightful column about. I'll have more to say about that shortly!

Key Event

Tue 30 Jun 2026 at 7:49am

Tue 30 Jun 2026 at 7:49am

ASX to open steady, oil prices jump ahead of US-Iran negotiations resuming

By David Chau

Good morning, and welcome to the ABC's finance blog. I'll be guiding you through the latest market action for the next few hours.

At this stage, it looks like the local share market will have a quiet start to its day and open relatively flat.

The Australian dollar is still near a three-month low of 68.85 US cents.

US and Iran peace talks move to Qatar

It comes as the US and Iran agreed to cease hostilities and resume their longer-term peace talks — after both sides launched tit-for-tat strikes against each other on the weekend.

US President Donald Trump has confirmed negotiators from both countries will next meet in Qatar's capital, Doha, on Tuesday (local time) for "technical talks".

Ahead of that meeting, oil prices jumped again with Brent crude futures up 1.1% to $US72.78 per barrel.

Still, that price is still close to pre-Iran war levels, which indicates traders are feeling incredibly optimistic — some would argue too optimistic.

Essentially, they're pricing in a swift end to the war and oil and gas flows returning to normal soon — even though very few ships are passing through the Strait of Hormuz each day, major disagreements about the fate of Iran's nuclear program and significant damage to energy infrastructure of Iran's neighbouring Gulf countries.

Anyway, you should grab a coffee, tea or whatever you normally have in the morning, and I'll have more updates for you shortly!