ASX slips on geopolitical tensions
The Australian sharemarket fell slightly during Friday's trading as fears of the fallout between Israel and Iran resulted in a broad sell-off on the market and investors rush to safe havens including gold.
The benchmark ASX200 index closed down 17.70 points or 0.21 per cent to finish the week at 8,547.40.
The broader All Ordinaries also traded lower falling 25.40 points or 0.29 per cent to 8,770.60.
The Australian dollar slipped 0.85 per cent and is now buying 64.72 US cents.
On a day dominated by geopolitical tensions, the market had a spike in volatility with strong gains in the energy, utilities and gold miners offset by falls in information technology, healthcare and consumer discretionary stocks. The ASX fell on Iran-Israel tensions. NewsWire / Jeremy Piper Credit: News Corp Australia
Overall, just three of the 11 sectors gained during Friday's trading.
One of the bright spots was the energy sector as the price of crude oil jumped to nearly $US75 a barrel on the back of political tensions between Israel and Iran which helped drive Australia's energy stocks higher.
Israel has said the pre‑emptive attacks were aimed at eliminating Iran's nuclear program and ballistic missile capabilities, but the fears in the market are based on what Iran will do as a retaliation to these strikes.
If it hits neighbouring oilfields or blocks the Strait of Hormuz, which controls 20 per cent of the world's oil consumption, the price of the commodity could skyrocket.
Woodside Energy shares soared 7.4 per cent to $25.21, Santos traded higher gaining 3.73 per cent to $6.96 and Beach Energy gained 2.77 per cent to $1.30.
There was also a flight to safety, with the price of gold jumping back to $US3,400 an ounce.
This helped drive Northern Star up 5.1 per cent to $22.53 as well as Evolution Mining, which rose 5.5 per cent to $9.20.
It was also a mixed day for the major banks. Commonwealth Bank slipped 0.65 per cent to $179.35, NAB fell 0.31 per cent to $38.87 and ANZ dropped 0.54 per cent to $29.63.
Westpac was the outlier eking out a tiny gain of 0.03 per cent to $33.36. Just three of the 11 sectors gained during Friday's trading. NewsWire / Max Mason-Hubers Credit: News Corp Australia
Despite the strong moves on the market, AMP chief economist Shane Oliver urged a sense of caution.
'Just bear in mind that tensions regularly flare up in the Middle East, escalate for a while and then settle back down again so there is a danger in getting too negative on it and the key for investors is to look for the opportunities that the latest conflict may throw up,' he wrote in an economic note.
Even with the falls, Dr Oliver said the Australia market still finished in the green.
'Despite falling on Friday after Israel's attack, Australian shares bucked the global trend and are on track for a gain of around 0.3 per cent for the week after having hit a record high midweek with the gains led by energy, utility property and consumer stocks,' he said.
In corporate news, shares in Cettire continued its falls, dropping another 20.3 per cent to $0.26 a share, after slumping 31 per cent during Thursday's trading.
The fall in the online luxury retailer comes after it issued a second profit downgrade in the last few months.
Accent group also had a day to forget, with shares dropping 21 per cent to a year low of $1.43 after annoying a disappointing post Christmas trading period.
The Platypus and HypeDC owner said sales for the 23 weeks until June 8 are down 1 per cent and is now expecting an EBIT of between $108m to $11m for the financial year.
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Speaking through an interpreter in a recent interview with Automotive News, Toyoda-san said Toyota is as committed to reducing the environmental impact of cars as any other brand, but has adopted a cost- and time-effective way to go about reducing its carbon emissions. "When the term 'carbon neutrality' started to become popular and we started to hear about it, we set our target as a company saying that for us, the enemy is carbon," he said. "The way that we thought about it was that we're not going to contribute to achieving carbon neutrality just by building BEVs, but we have to focus on things that we can do now so that, immediately, we can reduce CO2 from the air. Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. "We looked at ourselves [and asked] 'what can we do with the things that we have to contribute to carbon neutrality?' That was the base of how we made our decision in those times, and that has not changed now, and will not change for the future." Toyoda-san is referring to the widespread rollout of hybrid vehicles, which dominate the Japanese brand's current model range. Toyota is credited with creating the first mass-produced hybrid car in the late 1990s, and has continued to develop the technology to the market-leading status it holds today. The company's passenger car lineup is now dominated by hybrids, evidenced by the Japanese brand's Australian axing of all petrol versions of cars that offer hybrid options in 2024. Hybrids continue to play a significant role in Toyota's global efforts too, not least in its home country. Toyoda-san claims that over the past five years, the focus on hybrids played a larger role in reducing Japanese CO2 emissions than EVs. Above: Toyota Hybrid range "If you can check the data for each country about the CO2 emission situation for the past five years, it's going to be very clear," Toyoda-san said. "For Japan, we had this weapon of hybrid vehicles, so with the hybrid vehicles, we were able to reduce 23 per cent of CO2 emissions in the same [time], and it was the only country that was able to achieve that." Toyoda-san added that his company has produced and delivered upwards of 27 million hybrids to date, and claimed that figure was "equivalent to nine million BEVs in terms of the contribution to carbon neutrality". "The hybrids that we made and sold had the same impact as nine million BEVs on the road, but if we were to make nine million BEVs in [Japan] it would have actually increased the CO2 emissions, not reduced, because we are relying on thermal powerplants." 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"That will be similar to thinking as a person of the planet, not just from one perspective, but thinking about the whole planet, and then we can think about the various options and take the movements to reduce CO2 as much as possible. "I believe if everyone can support this way of thinking, it will be for the benefit of all the stakeholders too." MORE: Toyota RAV4, Corolla, Camry, Corolla Cross, Kluger go hybrid-only in AustraliaMORE: 2026 Toyota RAV4 gets fresh design, tech plus PHEV power for AustraliaMORE: Toyota, Mazda and Subaru commit to petrol power with new enginesMORE: Everything Toyota Content originally sourced from: Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda has reinforced his company's commitment to prioritising hybrid vehicles (HEVs) over battery-electric vehicles (EVs or BEVs), outlining that hybrids are its ideal way forward in terms of reducing total CO2 emissions. Speaking through an interpreter in a recent interview with Automotive News, Toyoda-san said Toyota is as committed to reducing the environmental impact of cars as any other brand, but has adopted a cost- and time-effective way to go about reducing its carbon emissions. "When the term 'carbon neutrality' started to become popular and we started to hear about it, we set our target as a company saying that for us, the enemy is carbon," he said. "The way that we thought about it was that we're not going to contribute to achieving carbon neutrality just by building BEVs, but we have to focus on things that we can do now so that, immediately, we can reduce CO2 from the air. Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. "We looked at ourselves [and asked] 'what can we do with the things that we have to contribute to carbon neutrality?' That was the base of how we made our decision in those times, and that has not changed now, and will not change for the future." Toyoda-san is referring to the widespread rollout of hybrid vehicles, which dominate the Japanese brand's current model range. Toyota is credited with creating the first mass-produced hybrid car in the late 1990s, and has continued to develop the technology to the market-leading status it holds today. The company's passenger car lineup is now dominated by hybrids, evidenced by the Japanese brand's Australian axing of all petrol versions of cars that offer hybrid options in 2024. Hybrids continue to play a significant role in Toyota's global efforts too, not least in its home country. Toyoda-san claims that over the past five years, the focus on hybrids played a larger role in reducing Japanese CO2 emissions than EVs. Above: Toyota Hybrid range "If you can check the data for each country about the CO2 emission situation for the past five years, it's going to be very clear," Toyoda-san said. "For Japan, we had this weapon of hybrid vehicles, so with the hybrid vehicles, we were able to reduce 23 per cent of CO2 emissions in the same [time], and it was the only country that was able to achieve that." Toyoda-san added that his company has produced and delivered upwards of 27 million hybrids to date, and claimed that figure was "equivalent to nine million BEVs in terms of the contribution to carbon neutrality". "The hybrids that we made and sold had the same impact as nine million BEVs on the road, but if we were to make nine million BEVs in [Japan] it would have actually increased the CO2 emissions, not reduced, because we are relying on thermal powerplants." 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