Afternoon Report | Market tumbles as oil surges

0:00Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News afternoon report. Thursday, the 12th of March, 2026, I'm Michael Thompson and every afternoon, we've got the five stories that happen today that you need to know about. Let's go with story number one, the S&P ASX 200 fell 1.3% today to 8,629 points, wiping about 40 billion dollars from the market as oil prices surged after attacks on tankers in Iraqi waters. Also adding pressure to the oil price was Oman clearing vessels from a key export terminal. Brent Crude has now jumped nearly 10% today to just above 100 US dollars a barrel, raising these fears that we've been talking about all week now that the Middle East conflicts could trigger a broader economic shock and disrupt global energy supplies. Locally energy stocks were the main beneficiaries of this wood-sired rose 2.1%. Karun energy gains nearly 5%.

1:02Ampoule was up nearly 3%. The coal miners rallied as well. Yang coal up 10.5%, white haven coal up more than 6.5%. Elsewhere, though away from the energy stocks the market was weaker, technology and property stocks fell as rate expectations climbed, I'll get to that one in a bit more detail in a moment. Zero was down 4%, wise tech global was off 2.5% while the banks and miners also slipped BHP was off nearly 2% A and Z down 2.5%. Under story number 2, the Aussie dollar has climbed to a 4 year high near 72 US cents as markets increasingly expect the reserve bank board to raise interest rates when it meets Monday and Tuesday of next week. All four major banks, Commonwealth Bank A and Z, NAB, Westpac are all forecasting a rate increase to 4.1%. Markets are pricing about an 80% chance of a move it is looking increasingly likely.

2:02The Aussie dollar, though, the currency has surged as well against other major currencies. It has hit its highest level against the Japanese yen since 1990, a decade high against the New Zealand dollar. I'm going to say that that spike that I was talking about before in global oil prices is likely to push inflation higher here, increasing pressure on the reserve banks of Titan policy even further as other central banks consider cutting rates. Story number 3, the anti-Semitism Royal Commission has been thrown into turmoil after special adviser Dennis Richardson abruptly resigned. The former AZO chief said he was stepping down after concluding that his role had become unnecessary and that it was effectively being paid as a highly paid researcher. Richardson revealed that he was being paid about $5,500 a day and felt he was being overpaid for the work he was doing. The resignation comes just weeks before Commissioner Virginia Bell is due to deliver an interim report into the performance of intelligence and police agencies ahead of the Bondi-Masika.

3:08Story number 4, Collins Foods, which owns KFC and Taco Bells across Australia, has acquired 8 KFC outlets in Bavaria as it accelerates its expansion into Germany. It will take Collins's German network to about 25 stores and it has plans to build up to 90 new stores over the next four years. Collins also signed a revised corporate franchise agreement for the Netherlands with young brands, and it will hold the rights to KFC in that country until the end of 2029. It currently has 64 KFCs in the Netherlands. There you go. And finally, story number 5, the Trump administration has launched trade investigations into 15 countries and the European Union as it prepares a new round of tariffs. These investigations will focus on what Washington describes as excess production capacity that is contributing to large trade surpluses with the United States. US trade representative Jamison Greer said that the investigation signal that President

4:09Donald Trump's protectionist approach to trade will continue despite the Supreme Court striking down earlier tariffs. Those are the tariffs, of course, that were announced last year on Liberation Day. Countries under review as part of this latest round, it's a pretty long list, but it includes China, Japan, India, South Korea, several Southeast Asian nations, as well as the EU, as I mentioned before, and other major US allies in Europe. That's it for the afternoon report. For Thursday, the 12th of March, make sure you're following the podcast, and please head along to fearandgreed.com.au to sign up for our free daily newsletter on Michael Thompson. Enjoy your evening.