Staff writers

Updated August 18, 2026 — 11:08am,first published August 18, 2026 — 5:22am

The Australian sharemarket was a mixed bag in early trade on Tuesday, as jumps by heavyweights BHP and CSL following their profit results offset falls in banking, tech and consumer stocks over rising inflation concerns as hopes for a deal to end the Iran war are fading.

The S&P/ASX 200 was up just 4.9 points, or less than 0.1 per cent, at 9078.10 as of 10.44am AEST, with seven of its 11 industry sectors in the red. The local bourse lost 0.5 per cent on Monday. The Australian dollar was stronger at US71.03¢.

BHP, the world’s biggest mining company and the biggest stock on the ASX, jumped 3.6 per cent after saying a copper bonanza is fuelling a jump in revenue and profits, and announced its biggest dividend payout in four years.

The resources giant reported a 9 per cent lift in full-year profit to $US9.8 billion ($13.8 billion) as revenues jumped 15 per cent to $US58.8 billion as the red metal’s price hits record highs and shortages of concentrates and other feedstocks in China crimp output from its smelters.

BHP will pay a final dividend of US99¢ per share, taking its full-year payout to $US1.72 a share, up from $US1.10 in the previous year. The $US8.7 billion total payout for the year is the biggest dividend bonanza for BHP’s shareholders in four years. Its smaller rivals Rio Tinto and Fortescue were up 0.4 per cent and 1.2 per cent, respectively.

Shares in gold miner Ausgold skyrocketed 24 per cent after the company said it agreed to be taken over by Canada’s OceanaGold for $776 million.

Meanwhile, Australia’s biggest health-care company CSL soared 14.8 per cent despite posting a net loss of $US2.6 billion due to restructuring costs and impairments. Revenue slid 1 per cent to $US15.8 billion, beating the $US15.4 billion analyst estimate. The blood giant said it would return to underlying net profit growth of about 5 per cent at constant currency for fiscal 2027, as it pushes ahead with a sweeping restructuring.

The results were consistent with CSL’s May update and included $US800 million of one-time pretax restructuring costs and $US7.1 billion of pretax impairments, the company said.

Energy stocks also advanced, with local oil and gas giants Woodside and Santos up 0.6 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively, as the price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, climbed again as prospects for peace in the Middle East dimmed, reviving concerns that prolonged geopolitical tensions may threaten supplies and keep energy costs elevated.

Brent edged higher to $US91.15 a barrel after President Donald Trump said he wasn’t interested in extending the expiring agreement with Iran and fighting flared anew in Lebanon. Its price has been careening back and forth because of uncertainty about what the war with Iran will do. Last month alone, Brent zigzagged between $US72 and US102 as hopes rose and fell that the US and Iran could reach a deal that would allow oil tankers to freely exit the Persian Gulf again.

Meanwhile, financial stocks - which make up about a third of the ASX - struggled, with all big four banks in the red this morning. CBA fell 1.4 per cent, National Australia Bank dropped 1.2 per cent, Westpac shed 1.5 per cent and ANZ Bank lost 1.6 per cent.

Cyclical stocks dependent on economic growth, strong consumer demand and affordable borrowing costs also declined, with retail conglomerate Wesfarmers down 1.2 per cent, supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles down 1.9 per cent and 1.5 per cent, respectively, and tech stocks such as Xero (down 1.2 per cent), Technology One (down 1.4 per cent) and Life 360 (down 4.4 per cent) in the red.

On Wall Street overnight, the S&P 500 fell 0.5 per cent but remains near its all-time high set Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.5 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.3 per cent. Wall Street’s losses solidified in the afternoon when oil prices accelerated upward.

Wall Street has run to records in large part because profits are booming for US companies. Those in the S&P 500 index are on track to deliver growth of roughly 50 per cent for earnings per share in the spring from a year earlier, according to FactSet. That’s much better than analysts expected and would be the best since five years ago, when the economy was erupting out of the chasm created by the COVID pandemic.

Nearly all the companies in the S&P 500 have turned in their profit reports for the Northern hemisphere spring. Still to come are big retailers, including reports this week from Home Depot, Target and Walmart.

They’re facing pressure. Their customers’ incomes may be turning iffier after US employers surprisingly cut more jobs last month than they added. At the same time, their customers are continuing to see bills rise quickly as inflation remains much higher than anyone would like.

A report last week said that shoppers surprisingly spent less at US retailers last month than in June, and CEOs for retailers could give colour this week on what they’re seeing.

In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked higher following their own big recent moves. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.72 per cent from 4.68 per cent late on Friday following a report showing stronger-than-expected growth in manufacturing in New York state.

The 10-year yield has shot up from 3.97 per cent before the war with Iran, largely because higher oil prices raised the pressure on inflation and upped the probability that the Federal Reserve will have to hike interest rates.

Higher rates could keep a lid on inflation, but they do so by intentionally slowing the economy and making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money. The average long-term US mortgage rate has already jumped near its highest level in a year because of the rise in the 10-year Treasury yield.

Reports last week, though, showed that inflation last month was not as bad as earlier in the summer. That raised hopes that the Fed could wait until later in the year before having to decide whether to raise its main interest rate.

Usually around this time of year, anticipation is building on Wall Street to hear from the head of the Federal Reserve about where interest rates may be heading. But the Fed’s new chairman, Kevin Warsh, may give little insight at this year’s economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, at the end of this month, according to Thierry Wizman, a strategist at Macquarie Group.

Warsh has been adamant about giving Wall Street less guidance about the Fed’s plans for interest rates.

On Wall Street, trading was relatively quiet. L3Harris Technologies fell 4.6 per cent after the defence company said Christopher Kubasik stepped down as its CEO and chairman following “certain conduct by Kubasik that was not consistent with the values of the Company.” It gave few details but said the conduct was not related to its financial reporting, controls, customer relationships or operational performance.

Alphabet dipped 0.6 per cent even though Berkshire Hathaway said it increased its investment in Google’s parent company, along with several homebuilders. Berkshire built a reputation for buying stocks at affordable prices under its former CEO, famed investor Warren Buffett.

Indexes dipped in Europe.