Morning Wrap: ASX surges as Trump announces two-week Iran ceasefire, oil tumbles
Australian shares are poised to open marginally higher after Trump announced two weeks ceasefire deal with Iran.
ASX 200 futures were up 13 points, or 0.14%, as of 8:30am AEDT, though gains have accelerated significantly on the ceasefire news.
Ceasefire announced
Trump declared a two-week ceasefire as markets braced for his 10am AEDT Iran deadline, delivering an eleventh-hour reprieve that immediately shifted sentiment.
ASX and US stock futures pushed higher on the news, while Brent crude dropped more than 5%.
The breakthrough came after Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif posted on X that diplomatic efforts were "progressing steadily, strongly and powerfully."
Sharif urged Trump to extend the deadline by two weeks and asking Tehran to temporarily re-open the Strait of Hormuz as a goodwill gesture.
Overnight — before the ceasefire
US benchmarks marked time in a largely directionless session ahead of the announcement.
The Dow shed 0.2% while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each added around 0.1%.
The VIX climbed 6.7% to 25.78 as Trump had escalated his rhetoric overnight, warning that "an entire civilisation could be wiped out tonight" if no deal was reached.
Energy
WTI crude had already fallen 3.9% to US$110.34 a barrel overnight on deal hopes, with Brent extending losses further following the ceasefire announcement.
Despite the pullback, some European and Asian refiners were still paying close to US$150 a barrel for physical crude in select grades. OPEC output plunged by its largest margin in at least four decades in March.
Stocks and sectors
Gold surged 1.7% to US$4,730 an ounce.
Communication Services and Energy led US sector gains overnight, while Consumer Staples (-1.8%) and Consumer Discretionary (-0.9%) lagged.
Delta raised bag-check fees by up to US$50, citing surging jet fuel costs (CBS).
What to watch
With the ceasefire in place, attention turns to whether Iran agrees to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and how durable the two-week window proves to be.
A sustained de-escalation would provide meaningful relief to energy markets and supply chains.
In today's economic calendar, Australian Consumer Confidence prints at 11:30am AEDT, followed by Business Confidence at 12:30pm and FOMC Minutes at 5:00am Thursday.
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