The local share market is on the rise, as global markets focus on renewed threats and whether Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz again.
WiseTech Global shares have plunged more than 10 per cent on media reports involving founder Richard White.
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.
Mon 22 Jun 2026 at 12:25pm
Market snapshot
- ASX 200: +0.1% to 8,834 points (live values below)
- ASX 200 (Friday): -0.9% to 8,829 points
- Australian dollar: -0.1% to 70.04 US cents
- Asia: Nikkei +1.9%, Hang Seng -1.9%, Shanghai +0.7%
- Wall Street: closed
- Europe (Friday): Dax -0.2%, FTSE -0.4%, Eurostoxx -0.5%
- Spot gold: +0.7% to $US4,188/ounce
- Oil: Brent futures -1.6% to $US79.27/barrel, WTI futures +0.2% to $U76.75/barrel
- Iron ore (Singapore): +0.2% to $US100.55/tonne
- Copper (LME): -1.2% to $US13,655/tonne
- Bitcoin: +1.2% at $US64,536
Prices current at around 12:25pm AEST
Live updates on the major ASX indices:
Mon 22 Jun 2026 at 1:06pm
Australia nails $2.5 billion defence export sale to Canada
Australia will supply Canada with advanced radar technology in a $2.5 billion deal, the largest defence export deal on record.
The agreement is Australia’s first overseas sale of the radar, known as Over-the-Horizon Radar technology, and will support Canada’s surveillance of the Arctic region.
“Today’s agreement marks a significant milestone in Australian defence trade and lays the foundation for deeper and mutually beneficial defence industry collaboration with Canada,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement.
Canada’s Arctic region represents about 40% of its total landmass, though it is sparsely populated and has little infrastructure.
Much of Russia’s Arctic area, which is about a fifth of its landmass, faces Canada and the U.S. state of Alaska.
“Canada is reinforcing Arctic security through the Arctic Over-the-Horizon Radar project,” Canada’s secretary of state for defence procurement Stephen Fuhr said.
“This project is part of a broader effort to build an integrated Arctic surveillance and communications network that will strengthen Canada’s ability to monitor, understand and respond to activity in the Arctic.”
Australia’s Jindalee Operational Radar Network can detect and track aircraft, ships and missiles up to 3,000 km away.
The deal to share the technology with Canada is expected to create around 300 jobs in Australia and is the first stage of a broader collaboration between the two countries on the radar
Reuters
Mon 22 Jun 2026 at 12:17pm
Auction clearance rates tumble to pandemic lows
Fewer than half the homes put up for sale over the weekend managed to attract a buyer, according to preliminary auction data supplied by market research firm Cotality.
Cotality noted across the combined capitals, the preliminary auction clearance rate fell to 47.4%, its lowest reading since the final week of April 2020.
The rate has held below 60% in ten of the past 12 weeks, but last week was the first time it fell under 50% since the early pandemic period.
Mon 22 Jun 2026 at 11:54am
ICYMI: Kohler on the AI investment boom
Is the flood of money in anything related to AI an awesome investment strategy or an artificially inflated bubble?
That’s the big question investors from the mega funds to small retail players have to grapple with at the moment.
Our finance guru Alan Kohler breaks it all down in just 1 min 54 secs – well worth your attention.
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Mon 22 Jun 2026 at 11:34am
ASX edges higher on opening, WiseTech tumbles
The ASX has edged higher with the market weighing up the stalled Middle East peace process and higher prices this morning.
At 11:00 AEST:
- ASX 200: +0.2% to 8,829 points
- All Ordinaries: +0.2% to 9,063 points
Technology was the worst performing sector, weighed down by heavy selling in its onetime darling WiseTech Global (-12.3%).
The broad-based industrial and real estate sectors pulled the other way.
As foreshadowed earlier, the ASX 200 education services sector has disappeared following the expulsion of its sole classmate IDP Education from the top 200.
BHP (-0.8%) has continued to slide after announcing a big impairment cost to its Canadian potash operation, while copper miner Capstone is up (+0.1%) after resolving a industrial dispute in Chile.
Oil and gas producers are generally stronger thanks to higher oil prices this morning, although heavyweight Woodside (-1.1%) is weaker.
The banks are a mixed bag with CBA and ANZ up 0.8% and Macquarie down 0.8%.
The industrial sector is being paced by defence outfit DroneShield (+3.6%), while the Kerry Stokes controlled SGH (+3.4%) is being supported by news of a $500 million share buyback.
The top movers list on the ASX 200 are being led by goldminers Kingsgate (+7.5%) and Ora Banda (+5.6%).
WiseTech is the worst performer today, while lithium stocks PLS (-4.2%), IGO (-3.7%) and Liontown (-3.0%) are also out of favour.
Mon 22 Jun 2026 at 10:28am
WiseTech Global tumbles on AFR report
The logistics focussed tech outfit WiseTech Global has endured an ugly start to the day after another less-than-flattering story centred on executive chair Richard White in the Australian Financial Review this morning.
The AFR reported that Mr White was being investigated by the Australian Federal Police over claims he exploited a woman’s immigration status and financial insecurity.
Mr White told us through representatives he would not be commenting, and we have so far been unable to verify the reports ourselves.
At 10:25am AEST, WiseTech shares were down 13.4% to $31.99.
The company’s value has dropped around 75% from its peak above $130/share in 2024.
Mon 22 Jun 2026 at 10:16am
Market snapshot
- ASX 200: –0.2% to 8,812 points (live values below)
- ASX 200 (Friday): -0.9% to 8,829 points
- Australian dollar: -0.1% to 70.03 US cents
- Wall Street: closed
- Europe (Friday): Dax -0.2%, FTSE -0.4%, Eurostoxx -0.5%
- Spot gold: -0.6% to $US4,137/ounce
- Oil: Brent futures +1.5% to $US81.75/barrel, WTI futures +3.0% to $U78.90/barrel
- Iron ore (Friday): -0.4% to $US98.85/tonne
- Copper (LME): -1.2% to $US13,655/tonne
- Bitcoin: -0.7% at $US63,302
Prices current at around 10:15am AEST
Live updates on the major ASX indices:
Mon 22 Jun 2026 at 10:12am
ASX opens 0.3% lower
The ASX 200 has slipped 0.3% to 8,798 points on opening (10:10am AEST).
The broader All Ordinaries was also down 0.3%.
Mon 22 Jun 2026 at 9:30am
Accent Group urges shareholders to ignore takeover offer
Footwear retailer Accent Group has urged its shareholders to reject a $300 million bid from UK raider Frasers.
Accent’s board unanimously rejected the 65 cents per share bid a “materially inadequate”.
Accent operates brands in Australia such as Platypus Shoes, The Athlete’s Foot, Hype DC, Vans and Dr. Martens.
Mon 22 Jun 2026 at 9:15am
This week: Australian inflation and jobs are the focus
Australia:
Wed: CPI (May), RBA Deputy Governor Andrew Hauser speaks
Thu: Job & unemployment (May), Job vacancies (Q2), Household spending indicator (May)
International:
Mon: EU — Consumer confidence (Jun)
Tues: JP, EU, UK & US — PMIs
Wed: US — New home sales (May)
Thu: US — PCE inflation (May), GDP (Q1)
It’s a big week on the local data front with May readings for both inflation (Wednesday) and the jobs market (Thursday).
The CBA economics team is forecasting headline inflation will ease slightly to 4.1% thanks to lower fuel prices, but underlying inflation, the measure the RBA watches more intently, will edge higher to 3.5%.
“There continues to be a lot of uncertainty around the extent to which businesses pass higher costs on to consumers,” CBA said in a weekend note.
“While we expect some increase in pass through during May, the available data suggest that the more severe inflation scenarios considered in the immediate aftermath of the Middle East conflict have so far not materialised.”
On the labour market front, the expectation is that the soft April numbers will bounce back, basically because the series can be volatile.
After the 19,000 decline in jobs in April, market forecasts range from gains of 15,000 to 45,000 with 30,000 being the average pick.
Westpac says the unemployment rate should drop a notch to 4.4% due to the participation rate nudging up.
On the global front, the US Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE), is expected to show a solid increase of 0.4% over the month in headline terms and 0.3% for the core measure. It’s potentially an outcome that would do little to argue for rate cuts.
The US will also get its final estimate of Q1 GDP (Thursday) and there will be a flurry of Purchasing Manager Index readings from across the major economies (Tuesday).
Mon 22 Jun 2026 at 8:54am
Metcash profit slips
Supermarket supplier and operator Metcash has announced a 4% slide in full year net profit to $279 million.
The underlying net profit of $269 million was in line with the pre-announced guidance given last month.
Sales revenue of $17.34 billion was relatively flat.
Metcash will pay a fully franked final dividend of 9.5 cents per share.
Mon 22 Jun 2026 at 8:48am
ASX indices rebalancing
The quarterly rebalancing of ASX indices kicks in today with some notable ins and outs.
The top 20 is unaffected, while in the ASX 50 the tech services business ALS, which specialises in measuring and quality assurance, will be included at the expense of Pro Medicus.
Uranium miner Paladin Energy replaces Metcash in the ASX100, while there’s a bit more shuffling in the ASX 200 with the likes of GuzmanY Gomez, Siteminder, Temple & Webster and WEB Travel getting the boot.
The big question though is: could this end of the blog’s favourite ASX 200 sector, education services, with its sole member IDP Education being expelled?
Mon 22 Jun 2026 at 8:32am
RBA staff urged to reject ‘insulting’ wage deal
If there is going to be an outbreak of wage fuelled inflation, Reserve Bank management is certainly doing its best not to fuel the flames.
The Financial Services Union has urged its members at the RBA to reject management’s wage offer, deriding it as “insulting”, “disappointing” and “a joke”.
The RBA has offered staff a 9.5% pay rise over three years, starting with a 3.5% rise this year.
As the FSU points out, the proposed pay rises for RBA staff are also below the current consumer price index of 4.2%.
The union is asking for 15% over three years.
Negotiations are currently stalled.
Mon 22 Jun 2026 at 8:21am
Oil prices heading higher
Oil traders have just logged on for the day and immediately futures prices are heading higher following this morning’s collapse of peace talks in Switzerland and the Strait of Hormuz looking like it’s closed again to oil shipments.
At 8:20am AEST:
- Brent crude futures: +1.6% to $US81.84/barrel
- West Texas Intermediate crude futures: +2.9% to $US78.83/barrel
Mon 22 Jun 2026 at 8:13am
Is the Strait of Hormuz open or closed?
Is the Strait open or closed? That’s the big question of the morning. The direction of global oil prices is very much dependent on the answer.
The answer, according to Windward Maritime, appears to be, having briefly reopened, it is again closed to all shipping bar “dark” Iranian-linked, sanctioned vessels.
Windward says the current flow resembles the “late-blockade baseline more than a functioning open strait”.
This calculation was made before the latest barrage of threats and insults on Mr Trump’s social media page and before the “peace” talks in Switzerland abruptly ended.
Mon 22 Jun 2026 at 7:56am
ASX set to slip as a fragile ceasefire keeps markets on edge
With US markets closed for the Juneteenth National Independence Day holiday, it would be easy to say nothing much happened on Friday — but that wouldn’t be quite right.
Looking beyond the shuttered towers of Wall Street, there was global unease about whether the US-Iran ceasefire, which had sparked a rally across the week, would hold after planned peace talks were called off.
The global MSCI equities index dipped 0.2% and European markets were generally lower.
US futures for Monday’s reopening were down around 0.2%, as were ASX 200 futures.
Oil futures nudged higher, but that should be weighed against an 8% fall across the week.
Tankers had started to sail through the Strait of Hormuz, but that traffic abruptly halted over the weekend.
“We concede that there will be a number of ships eager to leave the Gulf’s warm waters, and we think crude will struggle to find its footing amid a flurry of ‘open for business’ headlines, and yet we question the durability of the deal,” RBC Capital Markets commodities team wrote in a note to clients.
“In the event that the deal holds … the Hormuz reopening trajectory could resemble something similar to the Red Sea, where shipping traffic remains over 50% below pre-crisis levels despite the Houthis signing a deal in May 2025 to end hostilities.”
Gold slipped again, chalking up its fifth straight week of losses.
Iron ore and copper also lost ground, with a stronger US dollar and the cancelled peace talks weighing on sentiment.
Mon 22 Jun 2026 at 6:51am
Market snapshot
- ASX 200 futures: –0.2% to 8,812 points
- ASX 200 (Friday): -0.9% to 8,829 points
- Australian dollar: flat at 70.11 US cents
- Wall Street: closed
- Europe (Friday): Dax -0.2%, FTSE -0.4%, Eurostoxx -0.5%
- Spot gold: -1.2% to $US4,160/ounce
- Oil: Brent futures +0.5% to $US80.38/barrel, WTI futures +1.2% to $U77.54/barrel
- Iron ore (Friday): -0.4% to $US98.85/tonne
- Copper (LME): -1.2% to $US13,655/tonne
- Bitcoin: +0.7% at $US63,911
Prices current at around 7:00am AEST
Mon 22 Jun 2026 at 6:50am
Good morning
Good morning and welcome to another day on the ABC markets and finance blog.
Stephen Letts from ABC business team limbering up for a blow-by-blow coverage of the day’s events, where every post is hopefully a winner, but none should be construed as financial advice.
With Wall Street closed on Friday, the best guide to how things are likely to unfold today are the ASX 200 futures.
When trading closed on Saturday morning, the futures were pointing to a 0.2% fall on opening — in keeping with the decline on European markets after the fragility of the ceasefire deal was exposed (again).
The collapse of peace talks in Switzerland this morning and on-going threats to close the barely reopened Strait of Hormuz will do little to trading improve sentiment.
On the corporate front, Metcash is expected to release its FY 2026 results this morning, but given it was effectively pre-released last month, no ructions are expected.
As always, the game’s afoot, so let’s get blogging.
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