The Australian sharemarket recovered early losses to close flat on Thursday, as surging oil prices lifted energy stocks and offset declines in technology and materials.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index edged up 2.8 points to 9,032.8, with seven of the 11 sectors finishing higher.
The Energy sector led gains, climbing 3.2% after crude prices rallied on fresh United States sanctions against Russia’s biggest oil producers.
Brent crude surged as much as 3.7% to trade above US$64.92 a barrel.
Among major movers, Woodside Energy jumped 4.3% after forming a strategic partnership with U.S. natural gas infrastructure leader Williams, while Santos added 2.2% and Beach Energy advanced 2.9%.
Technology stocks were the biggest drag, tracking losses from Wall Street after Apple and Netflix weighed on U.S. indices.
WiseTech and TechnologyOne fell 1.5% apiece, while Xero dipped 2.5%.
Materials stocks also weakened. BHP slid 1.2% despite chairman Ross McEwan confirming ongoing commercial talks with China over iron ore.
Rio Tinto dipped 0.4%, while Fortescue Metals rose 2.4% after reporting record first-quarter shipments of 49.7 million tonnes, up 4% on a year earlier.
While the gold price extended its decline after bullion’s steepest fall in over a decade, some gold miners rebounded on solid quarterly results.
Northern Star rose 2.3% after reporting 381,055 ounces sold at $2,522 per ounce, while Regis Resources climbed 4.5% after generating $158 million in cash and bullion.
In company-specific news, IAG gained 1.4% after upgrading its FY2026 guidance following the completion of its RACQ Insurance acquisition.
The insurer now expects gross written premium growth of about 10%, up from its previous low-to-mid single-digit outlook.
Conversely, Super Retail Group fell 4% after posting 2.6% like-for-like sales growth and 4.5% total sales growth in the first 16 weeks of the financial year, which underwhelmed investors.
In bond markets, 10-year and 2-year yields each rose 0.1 percentage point to 4.129% and 3.345%, respectively.
