The Australian share market has defied expectations to begin the new week in positive territory, following the Dow Jones’s new record.
After ASX 200 futures pointed to a drop of around 0.7 per cent, the ASX turned things around to make healthy gains.
The price of Brent crude oil has fallen sharply, dropping under $US100 a barrel with hopes of a lasting US–Iran peace deal.
Get real-time market updates and news from our finance reporters in our business blog.
Disclaimer: This blog is not intended as investment advice.
Mon 25 May 2026 at 12:51pm
Market Snapshot
- ASX 200: +0.6% to 8,706 points (live numbers below)
- Australian dollar: +0.6% at 71.67 US cents
- Wall Street: Dow Jones (+0.6%), S&P 500 (+0.4%), Nasdaq (0.2%)
- Europe: FTSE (+0.2%)
- Asia: Nikkei (+2.7%), KOSPI (+1.6%), Hang Seng (+0.3%)
- Spot gold: +1.3% to $US4,564/ounce
- Brent crude: -4.6% to $US98.79/barrel
- Iron ore: -0.1% $US109.67/tonne
- Bitcoin: +0.7% to $US77,092
Prices current around 12:49pm AEST
Live updates on the major ASX indices:
Mon 25 May 2026 at 1:12pm
Auction clearance rate still below 60 per cent: Cotality
We’re keeping a close eye on Australia’s real estate market and how the recent budget is affecting sentiment.
Cotality’s Property Market Indicator reports that the auction clearance rate for Australia’s capital cities is still below 60%.
It is at 58.2%, up from the 57.5% low recorded the week prior in the wake of policy changes in the 2026-27 federal budget.
Cotality says the rate has stayed under the 60% benchmark for six of the last eight weeks.
The figures were based on 2,339 auction listings, which was 4.9% below the volume recorded during the same period last year.
Adelaide was the best performing capital city with a preliminary clearance rate of 72%, while Brisbane had its worst numbers in more than three years: just 45.7%
As for Australia’s two biggest cities, Melbourne was at 60.2%, Sydney rose to 56.9%.
Mon 25 May 2026 at 12:48pm
Resources and mining stocks lead the ASX 200 higher
Resources stocks are dominating the gains on the ASX 200, with strength across gold, aluminium and coal producers.
Top performers included Resolute Mining, Alcoa, Whitehaven Coal, Yancoal and Greatland, as investors moved into commodity-linked names.
Charter Hall Group stood out as the major non-resources performer, with the property and funds management company joining the leaders despite the sector focus elsewhere in the market.
Mon 25 May 2026 at 12:36pm
Mining shares drive gains on ASX 200
We’re approaching the midway point of the trading session and the ASX 200 is tracking along quite nicely.
It’s up by more than 40 points or 0.5%, having started the day in negative territory.
The best performing sector is Basic Materials, with many mining stocks on the rise.
And, not surprisingly, with the price of oil dropping, Energy has lost the most ground.
Mon 25 May 2026 at 12:17pm
How much does a stamp cost?
Always good to know for your trivia night…. and from mid to late this year it will be $1.85.
The consumer watchdog ACCC has essentially waved through the +8% price bump from Australia Post. It’s asking for consultation on its preliminary view to say ‘yes’ to the ask.
As part of the deal:
- Australia Post is not proposing to increase the price of concession stamps (60 cents each) or seasonal greeting card stamps (65 cents each).
- Australia Post also increased the number of concession stamps available to eligible consumers from 50 to 75 each year, in response to a recommendation from the ACCC.
Why support the rise? The ACCC has found that Australia Post’s reserved letter service revenue is unlikely to exceed its efficient costs.
Here’s ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey:
“Our assessment found Australia Post will likely fall slightly short of covering its efficient costs with the proposed price increase,”
“Without a price increase on stamps, Australia Post’s reserved letter service would be likely to experience a much larger shortfall.”
Mon 25 May 2026 at 11:56am
The latest Fuelcast is out!
We’re closely tracking Brent crude oil futures, with the per barrel cost dipping under $US100.
It’s sitting at $98.52, a drop of almost 5%.
Markets are hopeful, once again, of a US-Iran peace deal, that would allow oil to start flowing through the Strait of Hormuz again.
President Donald Trump made more optimistic noises over the weekend, before somewhat backtracking.
It seems we’ve been here before, so is it a deal or no deal?
Business reporter Daniel Ziffer sat down with Alan Kohler on the latest Fuelcast as part of ABC Business Daily.
Listen here:
Mon 25 May 2026 at 11:45am
Huawei says it will design high-end chips by 2031
Some interesting tech news coming out of China.
Huawei Technologies has just announced that it expects to design high-end chips by 2031 with transistor density equivalent to 1.4-nanometre processes,
That’s despite US sanctions that make it difficult for China to obtain the equipment needed to manufacture chips at the world’s most advanced levels.
The projection was the most eye-catching claim in Huawei’s presentation of what it calls the Tau Scaling Law, a proposed new principle for improving chips as the industry can no longer rely mainly on making transistors smaller.
Although the company did not provide independent performance data, the target is significant because 1.4 nm is expected to be close to the global frontier for advanced chipmaking around the end of the decade.
With reporting by Reuters
Mon 25 May 2026 at 11:41am
Market Snapshot
- ASX 200: +0.5% to 8,697 points (live numbers below)
- Australian dollar: +0.6% at 71.67 US cents
- Wall Street: Dow Jones (+0.6%), S&P 500 (+0.4%), Nasdaq (0.2%)
- Europe: FTSE (+0.2%)
- Asia: Nikkei (+2.7%), KOSPI (+1.6%), Hang Seng (+0.3%)
- Spot gold: +1.3% to $US4,568/ounce
- Brent crude: -4.8% to $US98.52/barrel
- Iron ore: -0.1% $US109.67/tonne
- Bitcoin: +0.7% to $US77,091
Prices current around 11:40am AEST
Live updates on the major ASX indices:
Mon 25 May 2026 at 11:17am
Fair Work Commission review into fuel surcharges
Good morning, Emilia taking over while Jason has a break.
I’m currently listening into a hearing that’s running in the Fair Work Commission today, where a “historic” order on fuel negotiations is being reviewed.
The order was made last month by the FWC.
It is the first of its kind under new laws brought into help transport operators dealing with the soaring price of fuel. It ordered that companies like supermarkets, miners and delivery companies hold twice monthly reviews of fuel costs with trucking entities that they use for freight.
It’s been ordered to stay in place until diesel goes back below $2/litre. It is currently still up around $2.45/litre.
The review today is part of a committment made when the order was implemented to hold a review one month later.
We’re hearing from business groups like AIG.
Mon 25 May 2026 at 10:52am
The ASX’s fall and rise so far
It hasn’t been what you’d call an outstanding start to the week by the ASX 200, but at least it’s not in the red.
The ASX has increased in value by less than 0.1% or about 5 points.
But it recovered well after ASX futures were pointing of a drop by almost 0.7%.
Mon 25 May 2026 at 10:49am
Guzman Y Gomez shares surging
We heard on Friday that restaurant chain Guzman Y Gomez is closing down its US operations.
But that hasn’t stopped investors seeing value in the Mexican food outfit’s shares on the ASX 200.
It’s one of the star performers so far today, up by around 7%.
Mon 25 May 2026 at 10:39am
US dollar falling
The Australian dollar is climbing up towards 72 cents to the US dollar.
At 10:30am AEST, it was trading at 71.59, up about 0.4%.
The US dollar is slipping at the start of Asian trading on Monday as hopes of a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz pushed oil prices below $US100 per barrel.
Against the yen, the greenback was down 0.2% at 158.87 yen, while the euro rose 0.3% to $US1.1642 and the British pound gained 0.4% to $US1.3485.
Many global markets are closed for holidays on Monday, thinning liquidity across the region.
Mon 25 May 2026 at 10:19am
ASX 200 up 0.1%
Well, that was a nice turnaround!
With ASX 200 futures pointing to a negative start to the week, Australia’s key market is actually going in the right direction.
Within the first few minutes of trading, it moved into positive territory.
The ASX is currently trading at 8,664, which is a modest rise of seven points, or 0.1%.
Mon 25 May 2026 at 10:17am
Market Snapshot
- ASX 200: +0.1% to 8,665 points (live numbers below)
- Australian dollar: +0.5% at 71.63 US cents
- Wall Street: Dow Jones (+0.6%), S&P 500 (+0.4%), Nasdaq (0.2%)
- Europe: FTSE (+0.2%)
- Asia: Nikkei (+2.7%), KOSPI (+1.6%), Hang Seng (+0.3%)
- Spot gold: +1.4% to $US4,570/ounce
- Brent crude: -4.85% to $US98.64/barrel
- Iron ore: Flat at $US108.17/tonne
- Bitcoin: +0.7% to $US77,107
Prices current around 10:58am AEST
Live updates on the major ASX indices:
Mon 25 May 2026 at 10:04am
Tony Wood of the Grattan Institute on the new gas reservation scheme
Australia recently announced a major change to its gas policy, especially for the east coast market, with the eye catcher being a new domestic gas reservation scheme.
From 1 July 2027, LNG exporters on the east coast will be required to keep 20% of export volumes for Australian users rather than sending everything overseas.
The move is aimed at increasing local supply and reducing exposure to global price spikes.
Tony Wood, Energy and Climate Change Senior Fellow at the Grattan Institute, says the gas industry is “reeling” from the changes.
This was one of the topics discussed, as he joined host Sally Sara on Radio National Breakfast.
Listen here:
Mon 25 May 2026 at 9:41am
Market Snapshot
- ASX 200 futures: -0.7% to 8,627 points
- Australian dollar: +0.4% at 71.59 US cents
- Wall Street: Dow Jones (+0.6%), S&P 500 (+0.4%), Nasdaq (0.2%)
- Europe: FTSE (+0.2%)
- Asia: Nikkei (+2.7%), KOSPI (+1.6%), Hang Seng (+0.3%)
- Spot gold: +1.5% to $US4,577/ounce
- Brent crude: -5.07% to $US98.29/barrel
- Iron ore: Flat at $US108.17/tonne
- Bitcoin: +0.5% to $US76,963
Prices current around 9:39am AEST
Live updates on the major ASX indices:
Mon 25 May 2026 at 9:34am
‘We want it to boom’: Trump to new Fed Chair
Since our last business blog on Friday, Kevin Warsh has been sworn in as the new chair of the US Federal Reserve.
President Donald Trump oversaw the White House swearing-in, saying he’d like Warsh’s help in stimulating the economy even as he tried to emphasise that the nation’s central bank would remain independent.
Trump spent months criticising Warsh’s predecessor, Jerome Powell, for being reluctant to cut interests rates, with the Republican president arguing that lower borrowing costs would provide an economic boost.
By taking the unusual step of holding the ceremony in the East Room and not the Fed, Trump made clear his pleasure that Warsh is now in charge.
“Thankfully, unlike some of his predecessors, Kevin understands that when the economy is booming, it is, that’s a good thing,” the president said.
Trump said it was not necessary “to go crazy. Just let it go. We want it to boom”.
“I expect he will go down as one of the truly great chairmen of the Federal Reserve that we’ve ever had,” Trump said of Warsh.
Warsh promised “to lead a reform oriented Federal Reserve, learning from past successes and mistakes, both escaping static frameworks and models and upholding clear standards of integrity and performance”.
“These years can bring unmatched prosperity that will raise living standards for Americans from all walks of life. And the Fed has something to do with it,” Warsh said.
Warsh further noted that the Fed’s mandate “is to promote price stability and maximum employment. When we pursue those aims with wisdom and clarity, independence and resolve, inflation can be lower; growth, stronger; real take home pay, higher and America can be more prosperous.”
Mon 25 May 2026 at 9:13am
Global steel output falls by 1.9%
All eyes are on China’s economy, given its importance to its many trading partners, including Australia.
But the economy of the world’s most populous nation remains under pressure, with weaker property activity, softer consumer spending and slower growth concerns persisting.
Global crude steel output fell by 1.9% in April, marking an improvement from the 4.2% decline in March, according to CBA’s Commodity Daily report.
The result was largely driven by the pace of contraction in China’s steel output easing 6.3% in March to 2.8% in April.
The report also found that US steel output growth eclipsed other major steel producing economies in April.
The impressive growth in US steel output over the last year suggests the 50% tariff on US steel imports is incentivising US steel producers to boost utilisation rates, it said.
Mon 25 May 2026 at 8:56am
Australians increasingly staying put, economic data suggests
Feeling stuck or in a rut? The economic data says you’re not alone, as my colleague Daniel Ziffer reports this morning.
Australians are not switching jobs, not starting businesses, not moving states, he writes.
People are less mobile, less dynamic and more risk-averse than they used to be, a series of economic indicators shows.
In 1989, almost one in five people in the workforce changed jobs in a single year.
By 2005, the job mobility rate had fallen to 11%, essentially one in 10 people.
The most recent data, for the year to February 2025, shows just over 1.1 million people changed jobs, meaning job-switching fell to just 7.7%, or one in 13 people.
“All of these factors point towards Australians being stuck or being held in the jobs that they currently have,” said Rachel Lee, a research economist at the e61 Institute.
The cost of housing and the risk involved in taking an average mortgage, about $700,000 with a 30-year term, are just some of the factors holding us back.
Read more:
Mon 25 May 2026 at 8:48am
Brent crude oil is under US$100 a barrel
We’re all hopeful of a lasting peace deal between the US and Iran.
The price of Brent crude oil is dropping sharply as markets anticipate the possible reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
About 20% of the world’s oil passes through the narrow waterway off Iran.
Brent crude has fallen by more than 4.5% today to $US98.86 a barrel.
