Afternoon Report | ASX jumps as gold miners soar
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Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report for Friday the 3rd of July 2026. I'm Michael Thompson and every afternoon we've got the five stories that happened today that you need to know about. Let's get cracking. Story number one, the S&P ASX 200 rose 1.4% today to 8,844 points with gold miners leading the gains, a pretty strong way to finish the week. It came after weaker than expected US jobs data boosted hopes that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates on hold in the world's biggest economy, which in turn pushed gold prices higher. Northern Star jumped almost 12% today. Newmont rose 5% as gold climbed back towards $4,200 an ounce. Healthcare stocks also performed strongly.
CSL posted its best session in almost two months. Cochlear and ResMed each gained close to 4%. Taking a look at the big banks, Commonwealth Bank rose more than 2% after it cut 170 jobs in its technology division. ANZ, Westpac, NAB also finished higher. Property settlement group, PEXA, this is interesting, it tumbled more than 21% today after the New South Wales pricing regulator proposed cutting its allowable revenue by 20%. Suncorp also fell after warning of slower premium growth, while Fortescue declined following reports that China's state-backed iron ore buyer plans to restrict some of the miners' inventories.
What factors contributed to the ASX's rise and gold miners' success?
On to story number two now, and efforts to prevent the spread of bird flu have stepped up after the H5N1 strain was detected in New South Wales for the first time. The virus was found in a dead giant petrel at Hawksnest on the state's mid-north coast, taking the number of confirmed and suspected cases in Australia to seven. All seven have... been cases detected in migratory seabirds. The New South Wales government says the risk to people remains low and that there are no cases in commercial poultry flocks. More than 500 staff have now been deployed to increase surveillance across high risk areas. Experts have warned that if H5N1 becomes established in Australia's wild bird population, it could have devastating consequences for native wildlife.
On to story number three now, and Saudi Arabia's oil exports have returned to near pre-war levels, providing further evidence that global energy markets are stabilizing after the conflict between the US and Iran. According to Bloomberg, tanker tracking data shows that the the Saudi Arabian kingdom, is exporting around 6.3 million barrels of oil a day, with more vessels successfully passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The increase in supplies helped push oil prices lower, with Brent crude now on track for a fourth consecutive weekly decline. Analysts say shipping through that waterway, the Strait, has largely returned to normal now as those negotiations between Washington and Tehran continue. Story number four is linked to story number three because the United States took the unusual step of warning Iran that Israel was planning to assassinate senior Iranian political leaders during peace negotiations, according to a report today in the Washington Post.
The report says that US officials feared Israel intended to target Iran's foreign minister and parliamentary speaker, who were seen as key figures in negotiations to end the conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. According to current and former US officials, Washington believed killing the negotiators would undermine any chance of a diplomatic settlement and warned Iran through intermediaries to take precautions. And finally, story number five, a much lighter one to finish on. And really, it's not very business news focused, but hey, it's a Friday afternoon and this is story number five. Taylor Swift and NFL star Travis Kelsey appear to be just hours away from one of the most anticipated celebrity weddings in recent memory.
Reports in the United States suggest that the couple have begun... wedding celebrations in New York with celebrities attending what is believed to be a rehearsal dinner ahead of a major event this weekend. While neither Swift nor Kelsey have confirmed details, widespread speculation suggests that Madison Square Garden is
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