Afternoon Report | ASX jumps on ceasefire hopes
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What factors contributed to the ASX surge today?
Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report for Friday, the 29th of May, 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 jump straight into story number one. The local share market surged today as hopes of easing tensions in the Middle East, boosted investor confidence and pushed oil prices lower. More on that in a moment, but the S&P ASX 200 jumped 1.6% to 8,732 points, recovering from yesterday's sharp sell-off and helping the index finish the week up almost 1% and about 0.8% higher for the month. Mining stocks led the rally today with the gold miners in particular jumping as the price of the precious metal rebounded.
We had West African Resources, Oribanda Mining, both up nearly 8%. Newmont rose nearly 4% as those gold prices came back. BHP gained almost 3%. Travel stocks also rallied on these hopes of lower fuel costs and the reduced geopolitical risk. Qantas, for instance, was up more than 3%. Flight Center surged more than 8% today. Among the big banks, Commonwealth Bank climbed 2.2%, while ANZ, NAB, and Westpac all posted modest gains for the day.
What details emerged about the US-Iran ceasefire agreement?
Story number two, very much linked to story number one, the reason for the surge on the local share market. The United States and Iran reportedly reaching a tentative agreement to extend their ceasefire and reopen shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Now, according to Reuters, the proposed agreement would extend the truce for another 60 days while negotiations continue over Iran's nuclear program. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance said negotiators were, quote, very close, though President Donald Trump has not yet formally approved the deal. Iranian state media said the agreement had not yet been finalized. But as I mentioned, oil prices fell again, with Brent crude dropping below 93 U.S. dollars a barrel.
Story number three, KPMG Australia chief executive Andrew Yates has resigned after an investigation uncovered a third alleged incident at the firm involving the inappropriate sharing of confidential client information. KPMG partners were told this morning that head of audit Julian McPherson would also leave the company. The scandal centers on allegations that confidential information from clients including Lendlease, Westpac, Macquarie Group and Dexus was improperly used in audit contract pitches. The matter is now being reinvestigated. This is the fourth time. Now, after KPMG's regional board found earlier reviews lacked sufficient rigor, the controversy is likely to increase pressure on the federal government to revisit the tougher regulation of the big consulting firms following the earlier PwC tax leak scandal.
Why did KPMG's CEO resign and what are the implications?
Story number four, former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been elected President of the Federal Liberal Council of Australia. Abbott was appointed unopposed at the Liberal Party's Federal Council meeting in Melbourne today, and he described the party as facing an existential crisis. He said the Liberals needed to become the Patriot Party and dramatically expand membership to compete with the rise of One Nation. Abbott also backed opposition leader Angus Taylor to become the next Prime Minister, as you would expect. Moderate liberals, though, fear that Abbott's appointment could push the party further to the right as it attempts to win back conservative voters and really tackle the rise of One Nation.
And finally, story number five, a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket has exploded during a launch pad test in a major setback for Jeff Bezos' space company. On social media, Blue Origin described the incident as an anomaly. and said all personnel were safe but it's some anomaly video from florida showed the rocket igniting before erupting into a massive fireball if you haven't seen the video it is really quite extraordinary it took place during a hot fire test which is basically where they test the rocket while it's still strapped to the ground jeff bezos later posted on social media that it was too early to know the root cause, but he vowed that the company would rebuild and continue testing.
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