Markets

Tech stocks dragged the Australian sharemarket higher on Monday, with Xero and WiseTech surging while cheaper oil pulled Santos and Woodside to the bottom of the board.

The LBMA gold price reached a historical high of US$5,405 per ounce in January 2026, capping a multi-year rally that rewrote the calculus for central bank reserve managers, sovereign wealth funds and retail buyers alike.

The RBA warned it might not be done raising rates. The ASX 200 finished the year 0.51 per cent lower.

A year after Trump's Liberation Day tariffs hit 185 countries, Australia remains at the 10% floor rate, the lowest applied globally. Exports have shifted, the trade relationship has held, but new pharmaceutical tariffs and an escalating Iran situation are adding fresh complications.

Tehran rejects US ceasefire proposal, escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz as global shipping scrambles to reroute from the vital chokepoint.

Brent crude briefly touched four-year highs after Iran retaliated for Israeli strikes on its largest gas field with attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure.

The world's HBM shortage has a name: RAMmageddon. South Korea's memory giant just filed for Wall Street's biggest tech listing in five years to fix it.

SoftBank has secured a $40 billion loan from JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and four Japanese banks to fund its $30 billion commitment to OpenAI.