Good afternoon and welcome to ASX Today. It is Tuesday of Week 36, and the Australian share market is under pressure, with renewed conflict in the Middle East pushing oil prices higher and bond yields surging.

The ASX 200 fell 0.4 per cent, with six of the 11 sectors trading in the red. The decline follows a weaker session on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 slipped slightly. The major driver behind the softness is rising geopolitical tension: renewed strikes in the Middle East have pushed Brent crude towards US$90 a barrel, while US crude climbed above US$86.

That has reignited concerns about inflation, particularly if higher energy costs feed through to consumers and businesses. Bond markets responded sharply, with Australia's 10-year yield reaching 5.1 per cent — the highest level since 2011. Rising yields matter beyond the bond market: they push up borrowing costs across the economy, from mortgage rates to corporate financing, and tend to weigh on share valuations by making fixed-income investments relatively more attractive. Higher yields also flow through to bank funding costs, which is one reason bank shares are watched closely when yields move sharply.

On the company news front, consumer discretionary stocks are leading the decline. Wesfarmers is down 3.7 per cent, while Harvey Norman has fallen 2.5 per cent. The weakness is also spreading to consumer staples, with Woolworths down 2.9 per cent and Coles off 1 per cent. Retailers are sensitive to shifts in household spending power, so any lift in fuel and energy prices — which feeds into household budgets — tends to be felt across the consumer-facing parts of the market.

Tech stocks are under pressure as well, with NextDC down 3.5 per cent and both Block and TechnologyOne falling more than 1.5 per cent. WiseTech Global is flat after announcing former Seven boss Jeff Howard as its new CFO.

Energy is one of the day's few bright spots, benefiting from the higher oil price, which typically lifts revenue expectations for oil and gas producers while weighing on fuel-intensive industries and importers. Ampol, Woodside and Santos are all up around 1 per cent.

The banks are more mixed. Commonwealth Bank is down 0.5 per cent, Westpac and NAB are both 0.3 per cent lower, while Macquarie has dropped 1.3 per cent. ANZ is flat, but Judo Capital is bucking the trend, jumping 7.4 per cent.

CSL reached something of a milestone, trading 1.4 per cent higher after signing an agreement with the US administration aimed at reducing medicine costs in America. The deal is notable because the US is a major market for CSL, so policy settings around drug pricing there carry direct commercial significance for the company. Larvotto Resources is up 2.7 per cent after launching a new antimony mine in Australia, targeting a larger role in a supply chain currently dominated by China and Russia. Antimony is a critical mineral used in flame retardants, batteries and military applications, and Western governments have been pushing to diversify supply away from dominant producers.

Telix Pharmaceuticals had the opposite experience, with its shares falling 2.3 per cent after announcing David Gill as its newly appointed chairman, effective immediately. Leadership changes at the top of listed companies often draw investor attention because of their potential influence on strategic direction.

Source: The Market Online Australia

The material provided in this article is for information only and should not be treated as investment advice. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult a certified financial advisor before making any investment decisions.