James Gruber
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I'm James Gruber.
It's Tuesday, the 12th of May, and this is the morning edition of the ComSec Market Update.
Well, Iran peace negotiations appear to have stalled again.
US President Donald Trump says he'll meet with his top military advisers to discuss options in the Middle East after he accused Iran of reneging on a promise to drop its nuclear ambitions as part of a deal to end the war.
At an Oval Office event on Monday US time, Trump said the weeks-long fragile ceasefire was on massive life support and said Tehran's proposal sent through over the weekend was, quote, a piece of garbage.
Oil prices jumped on the news.
That held back gains on US markets despite AI-related momentum continuing, particularly among semiconductor stocks.
Let's take a deeper look at what's happened with Aussie futures, commodities and currencies.
The ASX is poised to open slightly higher, with index futures up 0.1%.
Speaking of the ASX 200, yesterday it ended 0.5% lower to 8,702.
Stocks fell, pressured by financials and healthcare firms, with concerns over a deadlock in US-Iran negotiations dampening investor appetite for risk.
CSL tumbled 16% after it slashed its full-year 2026 outlook and flagged a $7 billion impairment.
The stock dragged the healthcare index 7% lower to an over-8-year low.
Today, energy firms are likely to get a boost, tracking higher crude prices, while investors await the federal budget delivered this evening.
On commodity markets, global oil prices climbed on Monday, as mentioned, after US President Donald Trump said the ceasefire with Iran was on life support, leaving the Strait of Hormuz largely closed with no clear end in sight to the war.
Brent crude futures settled almost 3% higher to US$104.21 a barrel.
Base metal prices were higher on Monday as worries about supply shortages outweighed concerns over lower demand due to the stalemate in the Iran war.
Copper futures were up 2.6% while aluminium futures jumped 2.4%.
Let's take a look at currencies.
They were mixed against the US dollar.