ASX 200 flat after Wall St gains, oil higher amid Iran war uncertainty — as it happened

On this first day of winter, we will bring the business blog to a close.

The ASX 200 finished the day where it started — give or take a couple of points — and that's not a bad outcome, considering that rocky first hour for investors.

We will be back nice and early tomorrow for more real-time updates.

It will be interesting to see how US markets perform in the wake of (yet another) bold statement coming out of the White House — not to mention its impact on the volatile per barrel price of Brent crude oil.

Stay warm and we'll do it all again on Tuesday!

An Australian travel giant allegedly implicated in a $240 million overcharging scandal has issued a statement about the "significant progress it has made" in resolving the matter connected to its UK operations.

Brisbane-based Corporate Travel Management (CTM) had been accused of not returning refunds, keeping customer overpayments, overcharging clients and amending audit evidence.

"We remain focused on bringing the legacy UK matters to a fair resolution, completing our financial reporting and rebuilding trust with our stakeholders," CTM acting group CEO, Ana Pedersen, said in a statement.

"We are progressing this work with discipline and urgency while maintaining a focus on client service, stability and the long-term position of CTM's global business.

"Our above 97% client retention illustrates the resilience of our business and the consistency of the service we deliver, even as we work through these matters."

Read our ABC News story from April about the allegations here:

Earlier in the day, we were tracking DroneShield's woes, with its shares down by more than 10%.

They recovered a little in the afternoon to shed 8.55% of their value.

The ASX 200's top performer was Siteminder Ltd, up over 10%, while Pro Medicus, WiseTech Global and Xero also caught the eye.

The best performing sectors to begin the new trading week -- and the month of June -- were Academic/Educational Services and Technology.

Dragging the ASX 200 down was Healthcare, which fell by almost 2%,

Most of the sectors saw a flat performance on this first day of winter.

The ASX 200 finished the day strongly to recoup most of its earlier losses.

It ended virtually flat at 8,729.4, down just 2 points or 0.03%.

At one point, in the first hour of trading, it dropped below 8,700, so in the end, it wasn't too bad a day after all.

And the All Ordinaries was up 5 points, or 0.05%, to finish at 8,969.8.

You wouldn't describe it as a sparkling start to winter, but it could have been a lot worse.

Asian share markets are extending their bull run as the AI boom continued to drive demand, offsetting news of fresh attacks in the Gulf that challenged optimism about a re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz and lifted oil prices.

Negotiators from Washington and Tehran are apparently working to hammer out a deal, with US President Donald Trump  taking to Truth Social to say Iran was keen to comply.

Asian share markets remain underpinned by demand for semiconductors and AI-related gear, with Japan's Nikkei up a further 0.9%, having risen almost 5% last week to all-time highs.

South Korea rose 4.2%, after surging 8% last week, while Taiwan climbed almost 6% last week. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 1.6%.

Shares in Samsung Electronics jumped almost 10% on Monday, adding to gains on Friday after it said it had started shipping samples of its latest high-bandwidth memory chip to customers.

The power of the AI rush was underlined by data showing South Korea's exports grew at the strongest annual rate in more than four decades in May to hit a record $US87.75 billion ($122 billion).

Nvidia boss Jensen Huang kicks off the Computex trade show in Taiwan on Monday with a speech about AI in which he is expected to expound on his company's latest product efforts as well as the island's central role in the industry.

Chinese blue chips dipped 0.2%, having been restrained recently by a lacklustre economy, with a survey showing factory activity stalled in May.

With reporting by Reuters

In the last few minutes, President Donald Trump has posted to social media, claiming that Iran "really wants to make a deal" with the United States.

The current ceasefire between the two nations was breached by both sides over the weekend, raising concerns of an escalation of the conflict.

But the almost 80-year-old leader says the Islamic republic is moving close to an agreement that would be good for Washington and its allies.

"Iran really wants to make a deal, and it will be a good one for the U.S.A. and those that are with us," Trump posted on Truth Social.

The US president has shown a tendency to make positive comments about the conflict over the weekend ahead of the Wall Street opening.

He might also be keeping an eye on the price of Brent crude oil which has risen by more than 2% today.

It's trading at around $US93 per barrel, having been as high as $US126 in late April.

It's up about 30% since the conflict began at the end of February, based on today's number.

China stocks have weakened to their lowest in six weeks, dragged by tech sectors, after lukewarm factory data added to concerns about slowing growth momentum.

The Shanghai Composite index lost as much as 0.6% to the lowest since April 17, before dropping 0.1% to 4,063.72 points by midday break.

China's blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.6%.

Tech sectors led the decline, with the CSI AI Index down 1.1% and the CSI Semiconductor Index losing 3.7% to a two-week low. The Star 50 Index slipped 3.2%.

The energy sector jumped 3.4% and the bank sector added 0.3%, limiting losses.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index was up 0.9% at 25,402.80, and the Hang Seng Tech Index added 1.8% after briefly hitting a two-week high earlier in the session.

"Markets are looking crowded, with some profit-taking and increased disagreement among investors likely in the short term," analysts at China Galaxy Securities said in a note.

"However, crowded positioning alone is not a reversal signal — what matters more is whether the underlying sector momentum holds; the market may be entering a phase of range-bound consolidation with more volatility."

China's factory activity stalled in May as new export orders contracted and input costs kept rising, an official survey showed on Sunday.

A private survey on Monday showed the manufacturing sector expanded at a slower pace last month.

With reporting by Reuters

• ASX 200: -0.1% to 8,719 points (live values below)
  
• Australian dollar: Flat at 71.84 US cents
• Wall Street: Dow Jones (+0.7%), S&P 500 (+0.3%), Nasdaq (+0.2%)
• Europe: Stoxx 600 (+0.1%), DAX (+0.1%), FTSE (-0.2%)
  
• Asia: Nikkei (+0.6%), Hang Seng (+0.9%)
• Spot gold: -0.5% to $US4,513/ounce
  
• Oil (Brent crude): +2.3% to $US93.17/barrel
  
• Bitcoin: -0.4% to $US73,374
  

Prices current at 2:45pm AEST 

Live updates on the major ASX indices:

Shares in Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and other South Korean tech firms rallied on Monday, as expected meetings between Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Korean executives boosted hopes of tie-ups in AI and robotics.

Chipmaker Samsung Electronics was also buoyed by data that South Korea's semiconductor exports surged to a record high in June on the AI boom, helping the country's total exports post their biggest rise in over four decades.

Huang is expected to visit South Korea later this week and meet LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and other Korean executives, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

Nvidia also plans to hold a "Korean Partner Night" event on the sidelines of the COMPUTEX trade show in Taipei on Monday, which Jensen and executives from chipmakers Samsung and SK Hynix 0and other companies will attend.

Samsung Electronics shares jumped 9.5% while LG Electronics, a maker of home appliances and TVs which is expanding into robotics, jumped 28%.

"Jensen's visit to Korea has a major implication. Nvidia needs Korea," Jeff Kim, an analyst at KB Securities, said.

Nvidia said last year that it will supply more than 260,000 of its most advanced AI chips to South Korea's government and some of the country's biggest businesses, including Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor Group.

Separately, Samsung Electronics said on Friday it started shipping samples of its latest high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chip to customers, pulling ahead of rivals in distributing a new version of the product critical to AI data centers. Samsung's customers include major AI players like Nvidia.

Samsung has been valued at a discount to SK Hynix due to its weaker competitiveness in HBM, but the news appears to be supporting share price gains, BNK Investment & Securities analyst Lee Min-hee said.

Reuters

National property price rises have stalled, according to recent data, as three successive rate hikes and planned property tax changes seem to dramatically shift the market.

So where does the Australian property market go from here?

And as the Australian Bureau of statistics prepares to release GDP data later this week, there’s a larger conversation going on about what GDP measures — and what it doesn’t.

Carrington Clarke and ABC News business editor Michael Janda break it all down on ABC Business Daily — take a listen!

Payday super will be introduced to start the new financial year -- which is exactly one month away.

From July 1, payday super laws will require all employers to pay super at the same time as wages -- instead of once every three months.

In the new system, contributions need to reach the employee’s super fund within seven business days of payday.

Misha Schubert, CEO of Super Members Council, says its own survey found that 98% of 1,000 Australians it spoke to were in favour of the changes.

"Australians right across the country overwhelmingly back payday super, because they want more visibility and confidence that their super is being paid properly -- on time, every time, in full," she said.

According to analysis by the Super Members Council, Australian workers were underpaid a total of $24.4 billion over the five years to 2023.

Modelling showed that a worker being underpaid $1,730 in super in 2022-23 could be more than $30,000 worse off at retirement due to the loss of compounding investment return.

"Payday super will be a big change for some employers that will make a very big difference for the workers they employ,” Ms Schubert said.

 "For employers making this transition, we appreciate the scale of the task and that’s why we support the ATO’s graduated approach on enforcement in the first 12 months.

"Unpaid super is a silent pay cut that costs Australian workers nearly $6 billion each year. This is money Australians have earned but never been paid – and it’s leaving millions much poorer at retirement."

• ASX 200: -0.1% to 8,720 points (live values below)
  
• Australian dollar: Flat at 71.81 US cents
• Wall Street: Dow Jones (+0.7%), S&P 500 (+0.3%), Nasdaq (+0.2%)
• Europe: Stoxx 600 (+0.1%), DAX (+0.1%), FTSE (-0.2%)
  
• Asia: Nikkei (+1.1%), Hang Seng (+0.5%)
• Spot gold: -0.3% to $US4,519/ounce
  
• Oil (Brent crude): +2.5% to $US93.25/barrel
  
• Bitcoin: +0.3% to $US73,838
  

Prices current at 1:29pm AEST 

Live updates on the major ASX indices:

Shares of Qantas rose by an impressive 12.3% in May.

In the same period, the ASX 200 inched up just 0.8%.

To start June, Qantas stock is down around 1% today, but is still at a healthy $9.33 per share.

The fall in oil prices as hopes of a lasting peace deal in the Middle East helped sentiment around Australia's national airline.

And its expanded services to New Zealand also provided a boost.

Qantas and Jetstar have added more than 800,000 seats to NZ over the past 12 months.

"What we've learned over more than a century of flying is that when conditions are difficult, you back the relationships that matter most," Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson said.

"New Zealand s one of those relationships. And we are backing it."

China has issued sweeping new rules to widen regulators' powers to scrutinise overseas deals involving Chinese investors, technology, data and national security, a month after Beijing ordered the unwinding of Meta's acquisition of AI startup Manus.

The rules, published by the State Council, or cabinet, will take effect from July 1.

One of the most significant requires authorisation for exports of restricted Chinese goods, technologies, services or related data.

The rules also bar indirect transfers through cross-border deployment of technical staff and guidance, training programmes or other arrangements.

With reporting by Reuters

On Friday, we reported how auction clearance rates are now at low levels last seen during the 2022 housing downturn.

That was according to latest figures by Domain.

Other sources are painting a similar picture, with property portal realestate.com.au releasing its auction clearance rate results for May.

Only South Australia (55%) and Victoria (52%) are above 50%, with NSW (44%), ACT (40%), Queensland (30%) and Western Australia (27%) doing rather sluggish business.

And, our reader Josh, described the downturn as a "train wreck" as he joined other "tyre kickers" and "sticky beaks" at house auctions in his neighbourhood.

We're down only 14 points to start the new month.

That translates to a loss of only 0.16% as we approach the midway point of the trading day.

The first hour was rough, as the ASX 200 dipped under 8,700 points.

But it's recovered to sit at around 8,715, with the Academic and Technology sectors providing rays of light.

Hopefully, the second part of the session will be stronger.

• ASX 200: -0.2% to 8,718 points (live values below)
  
• Australian dollar: Flat at 71.84 US cents
• Wall Street: Dow Jones (+0.1%), S&P 500 (+0.6%), Nasdaq (+0.9%)
• Europe: Stoxx 600 (+0.1%), DAX (+0.1%), FTSE (-0.2%)
  
• Asia: Nikkei (+1.1%), Hang Seng (+0.5%)
• Spot gold: -0.1% to $US4,530/ounce
  
• Oil (Brent crude): +2.5% to $US93.32/barrel
  
• Bitcoin:-0.3% to $US73,425
  

Prices current at 12:15pm AEST 

Live updates on the major ASX indices:

AI won't "save the day" for the Australian economy any time soon, according to HSBC, but it could lift it up in the medium term.

That's the opinion of Paul Bloxham, HSBC chief economist, Australia, NZ & Global Commodities.

In HSBC's Australian Economic Comment he said the nation's economic growth could depend on how quickly companies start using AI to lift their productivity.

"As we see it, this will not save the economy from a near-term downturn — which is needed to get inflation down — but it could help to increase potential growth in the medium-term," he said.

"Australia's biggest economic challenge has been weak productivity, as we have written a lot about in recent years."

The HSBC report said that productivity growth which had averaged 1.3% a year between 2005-2015, was just 0.3% a year over the past decade.

"Lifting the economic speed limit (or potential growth rate), by raising productivity growth is imperative to lifting living standards," he said.