Sean Aylmer

He did say he was deeply concerned about the escalating conflict and every economy in the world is being impacted, adding that the government will examine what it means for the price of fuel going forward.

I reckon there's a hint in that about excise.

US Central Command said it had begun additional self-defense strikes.

That's the quote.

And four hours later, CENTCOM declared that the operation, which targeted surveillance systems, air defense sites and communications networks, was complete.

Trump later said in a Fox News interview that he had spoken with top Iranian officials that asked him to halt the bombing.

He said it would stop shortly.

But I mean, in the interview, he said it would stop shortly.

But he added that the US would hit Iran again if its leaders don't sign some sort of an agreement.

Topsy-turvy, topsy-turvy.

Now, fears that higher oil prices will lead to higher interest rates hit gold.

That fell back towards 4,000 US dollars an ounce.

That pushed down the big gold miners like Newmont and Northern Star.

The big banks lost ground.

CBA and Westpac were both down a couple of percent.

Technology stocks also lost ground, while the energy sector was the biggest winner on the back of the price of oil.

There were a couple of strong performers among the large caps.

CSL jumped 5%, QBE up 4.6%.

Yes, why not?

Yes, so startup founders and investors have complained they could face capital gains tax rates of up to 47% under the current rules.