The Australian share market has begun winter with a slight decline, with the ASX 200 in negative territory to start the new trading week.
The weakness comes despite a solid finish on Wall Street on Friday, with the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all ending higher.
Investors are weighing easing inflation concerns, the outlook for interest rates, and hopes for a lasting peace in the Middle East.
Follow our business reporters and analysts in the daily markets blog.
Mon 1 Jun 2026 at 12:11pm
Market snapshot
- ASX 200: -0.2% to 8,718 points (live values below)
- Australian dollar: Flat at 71.84 US cents
- Wall Street: Dow Jones (+0.1%), S&P 500 (+0.6%), Nasdaq (+0.9%)
- Europe: Stoxx 600 (+0.1%), DAX (+0.1%), FTSE (-0.2%)
- Asia: Nikkei (+1.1%), Hang Seng (+0.5%)
- Spot gold: -0.1% to $US4,530/ounce
- Oil (Brent crude): +2.5% to $US93.32/barrel
- Bitcoin:-0.3% to $US73,425
Prices current at 12:15pm AEST
Live updates on the major ASX indices:
Mon 1 Jun 2026 at 12:07pm
AI could help struggling Australian economy ‘in medium term’: HSBC
AI won’t “save the day” for the Australian economy any time soon, according to HSBC, but it could lift it up in the medium term.
That’s the opinion of Paul Bloxham, HSBC chief economist, Australia, NZ & Global Commodities.
In HSBC’s Australian Economic Comment he said the nation’s economic growth could depend on how quickly companies start using AI to lift their productivity.
“As we see it, this will not save the economy from a near-term downturn — which is needed to get inflation down — but it could help to increase potential growth in the medium-term,” he said.
“Australia’s biggest economic challenge has been weak productivity, as we have written a lot about in recent years.”
The HSBC report said that productivity growth which had averaged 1.3% a year between 2005-2015, was just 0.3% a year over the past decade.
“Lifting the economic speed limit (or potential growth rate), by raising productivity growth is imperative to lifting living standards,” he said.
Mon 1 Jun 2026 at 11:49am
‘Oil prices likely to remain elevated for some time’: Analyst
US President Donald Trump has remained uncharacteristically silent on the progress of Gulf peace talks.
The hope is the Strait of Hormuz will be reopened and oil prices will fall back to pre-Iran war levels.
Brent crude oil is trading at $US93.23 a barrel, up by more than 2%.
But even if there’s a mini miracle and the world returns to a sense of normality, it will take a while for markets to catch up, according to Michael Feroli, head of US economics at JPMorgan.
“While uncertainties remain, the acute risk phase for the global economy should be over if tankers can begin moving again,” Mr Feroli said.
“Still, not everything would return to its pre-conflict place — oil prices are likely to remain elevated for some time, as inventories get rebuilt and the supply infrastructure in the Middle East is repaired.”
Asian share markets remain underpinned by demand for semiconductors and AI-related gear, with Japan’s Nikkei up a further 0.5%, having risen almost 5% last week to all-time highs.
South Korea rose 1.3%, after surging 8% last week, while Taiwan climbed almost 6% last week.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.2%.
Mon 1 Jun 2026 at 11:36am
Rapid uptake in AI, Westpac claims
It’s clear many businesses are embracing AI, but if Westpac’s data is anything to go by, it’s been ramping up quite a bit recently.
Here’s an excerpt from a media release posted by the bank:
New Westpac data has uncovered the acceleration in Australians adopting AI tools with approximately one million payments for AI subscriptions completed over the last year as the technology becomes part of everyday life.
In an analysis of Westpac card transactions, over 150,000 retail customers are paying for at least one AI subscription each month.
This has grown rapidly from 11,000 customers who were paying for AI services three years ago – a 1284% increase.
By comparison, growth in the most popular online streaming service grew by 35% in the same period.
According to the data, customers are spending a total average of $5.6 million each month on AI tools across learning, productivity, creative services and personal digital assistants.
The question, as always, is whether this “rapid” uptake of AI will result in real productivity gains.
Mon 1 Jun 2026 at 11:18am
Technology stocks lead the way to start June
At around 11:15am AEST, the ASX 200 was down by 23 points or by about 0.26%.
But the new month has brought satisfying increases for technology shares, particularly related to software.
Pro Medicus Ltd, Siteminder, Xero Ltd and WiseTech Global Ltd are all making impressive strides.
Technology, as a sector, is up almost 2% to begin the trading week.
Mon 1 Jun 2026 at 11:09am
Market snapshot
- ASX 200: -0.3% to 8,702 points (live values below)
- Australian dollar: Flat at 71.84 US cents
- Wall Street: Dow Jones (+0.1%), S&P 500 (+0.6%), Nasdaq (+0.9%)
- Europe: Stoxx 600 (+0.1%), DAX (+0.1%), FTSE (-0.2%)
- Asia: Nikkei (+2.5%), Hang Seng (+1%)
- Spot gold: -0.1% to $US4,528/ounce
- Oil (Brent crude): +2% to $US92.91/barrel
- Bitcoin:-0.1% to $US73,542
Prices current at 11:10am AEST
Live updates on the major ASX indices:
Mon 1 Jun 2026 at 10:47am
DroneShield shares down 10%
It’s been a torrid start to the day for DroneShield.
Its share have fallen by more than 10% to $3.03.
DroneShield’s woes come after the company revealed it had received a notice from ASIC asking for information related to an investigation under the Corporations Act.
Mon 1 Jun 2026 at 10:24am
ASX 200 rebounding, US futures up
The ASX 200 is battling back from its poor start to the day.
It’s now basically flat, having shed more than 0.3% to start the day.
The All Ordinaries is slightly up.
As for the US, we’ve just heard that S&P 500 futures are pointing to a rise of 0.1% while Nasdaq futures are up 0.3%.
Mon 1 Jun 2026 at 10:08am
Market snapshot
- ASX 200: -0.2% to 8,717 points (live values below)
- Australian dollar: Flat at 71.79 US cents
- Wall Street: Dow Jones (+0.1%), S&P 500 (+0.6%), Nasdaq (+0.9%)
- Europe: Stoxx 600 (+0.1%), DAX (+0.1%), FTSE (-0.2%)
- Asia: Nikkei (+2.5%), Hang Seng (+1%)
- Spot gold: Flat at $US4,537/ounce
- Oil (Brent crude): +2% to $US92.93/barrel
- Bitcoin:-0.1% to $US73,571
Prices current at 10:10am AEST
Live updates on the major ASX indices:
Mon 1 Jun 2026 at 10:07am
ASX 200 down 0.2 per cent to start June
The start to the new month on the Australian share market is slightly worse than predicted, with the ASX 200 a littler lower than forecast.
The ASX 200 is down around 19 points, or 0.2%, in the first minutes of trading, after the futures predicted a 0.15% decline.
It’s at 8,711 points.
The All Ordinaries has shed 0.15% or 12 points to 8,946.
Mon 1 Jun 2026 at 9:55am
US moves to stop Nvidia AI chip shipments to Chinese firms outside China
The US Department of Commerce has moved to close a potential loophole that may have led companies to export the world’s most advanced chips — like Nvidia’s most sophisticated Blackwell processors — to subsidiaries of Chinese companies located outside China.
The unexpected guidance suggests that the United States’ best AI chips may have been making their way to the subsidiaries of Chinese AI firms based in places such as Malaysia.
That’s despite broader US efforts to starve Chinese firms of semiconductors needed to develop critical AI capabilities.
The new guidance was posted on the Commerce Department’s website on Sunday after a paper about the loophole circulated in Washington.
The paper says “the floodgates have quietly opened.”
It is unclear how many of the chips have been exported in the year that the Trump administration left the door open. One chip industry source with deep supply-chain knowledge estimated it was in the hundreds of thousands.
The new guidance does not change anything for Nvidia, a company official said, adding that it could not ship the chips because the Commerce Department had clearly imposed a license requirement on Nvidia in a letter.
Former State Department official Chris McGuire, an expert on technology and national security, said in a social media post on Sunday that the loophole allowed the overseas subsidiaries of Chinese companies to buy Nvidia Blackwell chips without a licence.
“This is a HUGE problem,” he said.
“Chinese companies have been buying these chips, very likely at scale,” McGuire said.
With reporting by Reuters
Mon 1 Jun 2026 at 9:35am
Queensland retailer Sabo Skirt vs Kmart and Shein
A fascinating intellectual property dispute returns to the Federal Court next month.
Kmart and Shein have challenged the originality of designs that Queensland retailer Sabo Skirt says they have copied.
The businesses, including online retailers Billy J and Selfie Leslie, have denied that they infringed Sabo Skirt’s intellectual property rights and have challenged the ownership of the designs.
Ahead of the intellectual property dispute’s return to the Federal Court in Queensland on July 7, read more here:
Mon 1 Jun 2026 at 9:10am
Japan spent $103 billion to support its currency
After a strong end to last week, the Australian dollar is trading flat this morning, buying about 71.79 US cents.
As for the Japanese yen, it’s trading at 159.27 per dollar, remaining near the traditionally significant 160 benchmark.
But last Friday, it was revealed that Japan’s Ministry of Finance spent 11.7 trillion yen ($103 billion) in markets over the past month to support its currency.
It confirmed what traders had widely suggested.
As for the greenback, the dollar index, which measures the USD against a basket of currencies, was flat at 98.92, notching a weekly loss.
Data on Thursday showed US inflation rising at its fastest pace in three years in April.
It was driven by higher energy prices due to the Iran war and cementing economists’ views that the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates unchanged well into next year.
Mon 1 Jun 2026 at 8:54am
Market snapshot
- ASX 200 futures: -0.15% to 8,719 points
- Australian dollar: flat at 71.79 US cents
- Wall Street: Dow Jones (+0.1%), S&P 500 (+0.6%), Nasdaq (+0.9%)
- Europe: Stoxx 600 (+0.1%), DAX (+0.1%), FTSE (-0.2%)
- Asia: Nikkei (+2.5%), Hang Seng (+1%)
- Spot gold: Flat at $US4,535/ounce
- Oil (Brent crude): +2% to $US92.98/barrel
- Bitcoin: +0.3% to $US73,875
Prices current at 8:55am AEST
Live updates on the major ASX indices:
Mon 1 Jun 2026 at 8:51am
Will Labor’s bold move come back to bite it?
A new poll published last night shows that Labor has fallen behind One Nation in the primary vote.
According to an Australian Financial Review, Redbridge Group and Accent Research poll, One Nation is now out-polling Labor, at 30% compared to 28%.
Many Australians are feeling disillusioned in the wake of last month’s federal budget, which introduced unpopular tax reforms related to housing.
Alan Kohler’s latest column addresses many of the issues and asks: “Why is Labor risking its 50-seat majority on a minor change to capital gains tax on businesses?”
Read more here:
Mon 1 Jun 2026 at 8:44am
Electric car growth sluggish in Europe
Only nine of the European Union’s 27 member states clearly incentivise companies to choose electric vehicles, data published by advocacy organisation Transport & Environment, which is explicitly pro-regulation, has said.
Company cars account for about 60% of new registrations in the EU and tend to be used twice as much as private vehicles before entering the second-hand market, it said.
Nine EU countries, including France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark, offer a tax discount that brings the initial price of a compact EV at least level with a comparable petrol car.
Six countries, including Italy and Finland, have lower tax incentives that cover more than half, but not the entire EV price premium.
It said 12 countries, including Germany, Poland and Spain, have no effective tax incentives, compensating for less than half of the upfront price gap.
Out of compact corporate car sales, 68% come from countries where the tax difference is lower than the EV price premium, with 49% from countries with no effective tax incentives.
Germany and Poland together account for 52% of all oil-intensive corporate car registrations.
In Germany, a large “E-segment” petrol company car receives a net fiscal advantage of up to 6,190 euros over four years, outweighing the taxes the company paid.
Belgium’s corporate EV share rose from 8.8% in 2021 to 54.2% in 2025, the EU’s second-highest after Denmark.
The Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and Austria have high corporate EV shares and have started to scale back tax incentives.
About 20 million new internal combustion engine cars are expected to be registered by EU companies by 2030.
With reporting by Reuters
Mon 1 Jun 2026 at 8:18am
Sydney and Melbourne home values fall
The Australian property market is losing steam, according to Cotality research director Tim Lawless.
Dwelling values fell in Australia’s two biggest cities in May, new Cotality data show.
Sydney dropped 0.9%, and Melbourne was down 0.8%, with Canberra also declining by a 0.2% fall.
My ABC News colleague Lin Lin has written a fascinating story about everyone’s favourite talking point, Aussie real estate, with national home values flatlining for the first time since January 2025.
Mon 1 Jun 2026 at 7:59am
Rise in US interest rates now ‘a coin flip’
Digging a bit deeper into the closing numbers from overseas markets to end last week.
The S&P 500 notched its ninth straight weekly gain, its longest winning streak since December 2023.
A narrow, tech-led rally lifted all three major US indexes to modest gains while benchmark US Treasury yields dipped for a fourth straight session.
With US inflation surging, Federal Reserve officials are now mulling hiking interest rates to counter that growing risk.
“The market has been pricing in about a coin-flip odds of a hike [in the fourth quarter] for a couple of weeks now,” Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird, said.
“We’ll have plenty of data by then, but I don’t expect the Fed to do much of anything.”
European shares closed modestly higher, gaining for the month, which was marked by hopes of a deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The waterway’s closure has strained the global economy and agitated markets.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe rose 5.75 points, or 0.51%, to 1,130.47.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.14%, while Europe’s broad FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 2.53 points, or 0.10%.
Emerging market stocks rose 25.91 points, or 1.50%, to 1,750.60.
With reporting by Reuters
Mon 1 Jun 2026 at 7:51am
Will 50pc of white-collar jobs disappear within five years?
AI is reshaping almost every aspect of our lives, including the jobs we do.
Peter McCrory, Anthropic’s chief economist, is trying to get his head around the impact of AI on Australia’s economy, including companies and their workers.
One dire prediction, from McCrory’s own CEO, is that half of white-collar jobs could be replaced by AI within five years.
He joined Alan Kohler on That’s Business, the ABC Business Daily podcast.
Mon 1 Jun 2026 at 7:38am
ASX futures down 13 points
Doesn’t look like the best start to the trading week for Australian investors.
ASX futures are pointing to a slightly weaker trend at the start of June, with the Australian share market expected to open about 13 points, or 0.15%, lower.
If that indication proves accurate, the ASX 200 would begin trading near 8,719 points after closing on Friday at about 8,732.
The subdued outlook comes despite a positive lead from Wall Street.
On Friday, US markets finished higher, with the Dow Jones gaining 0.7%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each rose 0.2%.
Despite the positive global backdrop, local investors appear cautious as the end of the financial year approaches.
Attention this week will focus on economic data, central bank expectations and commodity prices, all of which could influence the direction of the Australian market in the days ahead.
