Staff writers
Updated May 11, 2026 — 10:40am, first published May 11, 2026 — 5:24am
The Australian sharemarket has fallen sharply at the open with the United States and Iran rejecting each other’s latest peace proposals to end the Middle East conflict as the two sides struggle to maintain a fragile ceasefire.
The S&P/ASX 200 was down 95 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 8649.4 in early trade, with eight of 11 industry sectors in negative territory. Energy stocks climbed as oil prices rose by more than 3 per cent after US President Donald Trump dismissed Iran’s response to the US proposal for peace talks to end the war as “totally unacceptable”.
The Middle East conflict continues to cast a shadow over markets. AP “Trump’s rejection of Iran’s latest peace plan sees the week beginning in a ‘risk-off’ mode, reversing some of the price action we saw last week,” said Jason Wong, a strategist at Bank of New Zealand.
CSL tumbled more than 18 per cent in early trade after it announced on Monday a further $US5 billion in writedowns after downgrading its revenue outlook for 2026 to $US15.2 billion and net profit (excluding restructuring costs and impairments) to $US3.1 billion.
It pointed to immunoglobulin inventory trouble in the US and its Albumin business in China as a big part of the latest downgrade. Shares have already more than halved since August last year.
Mining stocks advanced with BHP up 1.1 per cent, Rio Tinto rising 0.9 per cent and Fortescue gaining 0.2 per cent. Gold miners are mixed with Northern Star climbing 0.9 per cent and Evolution Mining losing 0.2 per cent.
Financial stocks lost ground with Commonwealth Bank down 0.6 per cent, Westpac losing 0.7 per cent, National Australia Bank falling 1.2 per cent and ANZ Bank diving 2.7 per cent.
Energy stocks rose on the back of strengthening oil prices. Brent, the international standard, was up 3.3 per cent to $US104.61 a barrel at 10.18am AEST, while US oil rose by 3.3 per cent to $US98.58. Woodside Energy was up 0.6 per cent and Santos advanced 0.3 per cent. Among the local refiners Ampol fell 0.4 per cent and Viva Energy shed 1.4 per cent.
Outdoor media company oOh!media advanced 3.6 per cent after announcing it had received a second non-binding offer in a matter of weeks, this time from private equity firm I Squared Capital. The offer of $1.45 per share is marginally better than the previous offer put forward by Pacific Equity Partners, which offered $1.40 for 100 per cent of the company.
Both offers have been rejected by oOh’s board, though it said it will open up its books to both I Squared and Pacific Equity on a limited basis, subject to non-disclosure agreements. An ASX statement also said oOh!media was “engaging with certain other parties”.
Technology stocks lost ground, following on from heavy losses for the sector on Wall Street. WiseTech shed 2.2 per cent, Xero fell 2.9 per cent and Technology One lost 1.9 per cent in early trade.
The Australian dollar was trading at US72.25¢ at 10.23am AEST.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 climbed 0.8 per cent to an all-time high on Friday after a report said US employers added 115,000 more jobs than they cut last month, even though the war with Iran is raising fuel costs and uncertainty for everyone. The Dow Jones edged up by 12 points, or less than 0.1 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 1.7 per cent to its own record.
While hiring slowed from March’s level, it was still nearly double what economists expected. And it helped the S&P 500 close out a sixth straight winning week, its longest such streak since 2024.
One big factor helping to support the US stock market despite the war’s uncertainties is the strong profits that companies have been reporting for the start of 2026.
Monster Beverage jumped 13.6 per cent after the energy drink maker joined the parade of companies topping analysts’ expectations for profit and revenue for the latest quarter. It benefited from strong growth outside the United States, and total net sales from there made up about 45 per cent of its total, the highest percentage ever for the company.
With AP, Bloomberg
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