SYDNEY — Australian shares pushed higher on Wednesday afternoon, with the S&P/ASX 200 climbing back above the 8,800-point mark as a strong overnight session on Wall Street and rising oil prices lifted energy stocks, offsetting lingering caution over escalating tensions in the Middle East.

The benchmark index was trading at 8,826.1 points as of 2:32 p.m. AEST, up 17.6 points, or 0.20%, extending a modest recovery after two subdued sessions earlier in the week.

Tuesday’s trade had ended nearly flat, with the ASX 200 closing at 8,808 as traders tracked escalating tensions in the Middle East. The U.S. launched a third night of strikes against Iran, while two tankers were hit in the Strait of Hormuz after Washington reinstated its blockade of Iranian shipping, a development that has kept energy markets on edge and added a geopolitical risk premium to crude prices.

Despite that backdrop, sentiment turned more positive heading into Wednesday’s session. Following a solid night on Wall Street, futures pointed to the ASX 200 opening about 45 points higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising slightly, the S&P 500 climbing 0.4%, and the Nasdaq surging 0.9%. Energy producers were among the early standouts locally, with Beach Energy and Santos tipped for further gains after oil prices pushed higher overnight.

The rebound in crude followed a rough stretch for global markets, which had been rattled by supply concerns stemming from the Hormuz disruptions. Stocks around the world had closed lower earlier in the week as oil prices surged on renewed tensions in the strait, with SK Hynix leading a broader sell-off in chip stocks.

Banks Under Pressure, Miners Mixed

While energy names found support, the major banks — long a pillar of the ASX 200’s performance — remained under pressure after a soft session Tuesday, when the big four lenders fell between 0.9% and 1.5%. That followed a Monday session in which the banks had actually added ground, rising between 0.3% and 1.3% and lending support to the broader index, underscoring the sector’s volatility this week as investors reassess rate expectations both locally and in the United States.

Mining giants were also mixed. Rio Tinto eased 0.3% on Tuesday ahead of its production results, while BHP had inched 0.1% lower the previous session as investors braced for quarterly output updates. BHP’s report, released this week, showed resilience in its flagship iron ore business. The miner delivered its strongest first-half Pilbara iron ore production since 2018 and sharply cut copper cost guidance, while flagging limited operational impact from the disruption in the Middle East. Company-wide, second-quarter global iron ore production fell 1% from a year earlier to 87.1 million tonnes, missing estimates of 89.6 million tonnes by about 3%, though Pilbara production of 83.5 million tonnes and shipments of 85.3 million tonnes both beat forecasts.

Gold miners, which had slumped earlier in the week, were also in focus. Northern Star and Evolution Mining had each fallen more than 1.5% on Monday as bullion prices softened, though the sector remained a key swing factor for the index given its outsized weighting on the ASX.

Corporate Activity in the Resources Sector

Deal-making continued in the resources space. IGO has agreed to sell its Nova nickel operation in Western Australia to a subsidiary of Global Lithium, which plans to repurpose the processing plant for lithium concentrate from its nearby Manna project, in a deal worth a total of $7 million. Nova is expected to continue generating strong cash flow for IGO until mining wraps up as planned in the December quarter of 2026, while Global Lithium aims to begin processing pegmatite ore from Manna, located about 170 kilometers away by road, with concentrate production targeted from mid-2027.

Elsewhere, gold explorer Ora Banda Mining posted a strong resource upgrade. Its annual Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve update for the Davyhurst project showed Mineral Resources up 75% year-on-year to 3.69 million ounces and Ore Reserves up 159% to 610,000 ounces, driven largely by the Round Dam and Waihi deposits. Broker Euroz Hartleys retained its Buy rating on the stock, with an unchanged price target of $2.05, viewing the reserve growth as a key driver of a potential material step-up in earnings.

Commodities and the Broader Picture

Base and battery metals also drew attention this week. Aluminium hit a four-year high in May after Middle East smelter curtailments drove expectations of a global deficit in 2026, before easing to around $3,150 a tonne — still well above the 2025 average of $2,632. Lithium carbonate prices rose 13% quarter-on-quarter on supply concerns and booming demand for battery storage, with storage shipments up 108% year-on-year even as electric vehicle sales growth slowed to just 1%.

On the domestic economic front, consumer and business confidence data released this week painted a mixed picture. Australia’s consumer sentiment rebounded in July but remained among the weakest readings in the survey’s 50-year history, highlighting the economy’s vulnerability to global shocks, even as business confidence climbed to a four-month high in June.

Investors are also watching developments in China, Australia’s largest trading partner. Record June trade figures out of China set the stage for closely watched second-quarter GDP data, which could sway sentiment across Asia-Pacific markets, including the ASX, in the sessions ahead.

Globally, risk appetite has been buoyed by expectations of a less aggressive path for U.S. interest rates. A closely watched Global Fund Manager Survey in July showed the most bullish investor sentiment since February, with the U.S. equity overweight the largest since December 2024, prompting Bank of America strategists to recommend trimming equity and high-beta exposure. The bullish tilt was tied to optimism around a macro boom, artificial intelligence capital spending, and a more dovish Federal Reserve.

For now, the ASX 200 remains well below its all-time high. The index hit a record 9,198.6 points in February 2026 before settling closer to the 8,800 mark by July. Traders say the market’s next major direction will likely hinge on how the Middle East conflict evolves, along with incoming Chinese GDP figures and any further signals from the Federal Reserve on the pace of future rate moves.

With roughly 200 of Australia’s largest listed companies making up the index, covering close to 79% of the country’s equity market, Wednesday’s gains offered a modest but welcome reprieve for local investors navigating a volatile stretch of global headlines.

Mikel Oyarzabal converted a penalty in the 20th minute Tuesday to give Spain a 1-0 lead over France in the first semifinal of the 2026 World Cup, breaking the deadlock early in a highly anticipated clash between the tournament’s two top-ranked teams at Dallas Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Oyarzabal sent French goalkeeper Mike Maignan the correct direction but beat him with the height of his shot, converting from the spot to give Spain the early advantage. It marked Oyarzabal’s fifth goal of the tournament, continuing his run as one of Spain’s most reliable finishers throughout the knockout stage. The penalty came after a spell of pressure from both sides, with France having pushed the early tempo despite Spain holding more of the possession in the opening minutes.

Both sides made notable adjustments to their lineups ahead of kickoff. France manager Didier Deschamps brought Aurélien Tchouaméni and Bradley Barcola into the starting XI in place of Manu Koné and Désiré Doué following the team’s quarterfinal win over Morocco. The change marked milestones for both players: Tchouaméni earned his 50th international cap, while captain Kylian Mbappé made his 21st World Cup appearance, officially surpassing Hugo Lloris to become the most-capped French player in tournament history. Spain manager Luis de la Fuente, by contrast, opted for continuity, fielding an unchanged starting XI from the side that defeated Belgium in the quarterfinals, with Fabián Ruiz retaining his midfield spot over Pedri and super-sub Mikel Merino once again held in reserve on the bench.

Mbappé entered Tuesday’s match tied with Argentina’s Lionel Messi atop the tournament’s Golden Boot standings with eight goals, and sitting one goal shy of matching Messi’s all-time World Cup scoring record of 21. Despite an early chance created off a pass from Ousmane Dembélé, Mbappé was unable to convert in the opening 20 minutes, with Spanish defenders arriving in time to snuff out the danger.

Tuesday’s match carries significant recent history for both sides. Spain has won the two nations’ last two competitive meetings, defeating France 2-1 in the Euro 2024 semifinal in Munich and 5-4 in the 2025 UEFA Nations League semifinal, results that have added an extra edge to Tuesday’s rematch. France, however, holds the head-to-head edge in World Cup meetings specifically, having beaten Spain 3-1 in the round of 16 in 2006. Both nations have gone on to win the World Cup since that match, with Spain triumphing in 2010 and France in 2018.

Spain entered the semifinal off a stretch in which the team outscored opponents 10-1 following a surprise opening-match draw with Cape Verde, while France arrived unbeaten through six matches and had not conceded a goal across its three knockout-stage contests prior to kickoff. The winner of Tuesday’s match will advance to Sunday’s World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where either defending champion Argentina or England awaits following Wednesday’s second semifinal in Atlanta. As of Oyarzabal’s goal, Spain led 1-0 with the first half still in progress.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department issued a warning Monday about a scam circulating online that uses a fraudulent QR code to solicit money in connection with the search for Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie who has now been missing for more than 164 days.

In a statement posted to social media, the department said it had become aware of posts about the Guthrie investigation that include a QR code requesting payment. “The Pima County Sheriff’s Department is aware of posts circulating about the Guthrie Investigation that include a QR code requesting money,” the statement, issued under Sheriff Chris Nanos, read. “PCSD will never ask for money related to this case, or any investigation. Please do not send money to people you do not know or scan QR codes requesting payment.” The department urged the public to ignore and report any such posts rather than engage with them, adding, “Stay alert and help spread the word.”

The scam warning marks the latest instance of fraudulent activity tied to Guthrie’s disappearance since she went missing from her Catalina Foothills home outside Tucson on the night of January 31. It follows a fake GoFundMe campaign flagged by authorities in March and the guilty plea earlier this month of a California man, Derrick Anthony Callella, who admitted to sending fabricated ransom messages to Guthrie’s daughter, Annie, and her son-in-law, Tommaso Cioni, in February. Callella was charged with two counts of harassment using a telecommunications device and is scheduled for sentencing in September. Nanos had also previously addressed a separate demand letter that circulated on social media last month, telling a Tucson radio station he believed it was likely fake, noting that “the FBI has done a number of arrests for false or fake ransom notes.”

Guthrie was reported missing on February 1 after a friend alerted her family that she had not shown up for a scheduled church service. Family members searched her property before contacting the Pima County Sheriff’s Department around noon that day, and Nanos later confirmed a shift in the investigation’s framing, telling reporters, “I believe she was abducted.” Investigators have pointed to a range of physical evidence recovered from the scene, including bloodstains outside her front door later confirmed to belong to Guthrie, signs of forced entry, and doorbell camera footage recovered from backend systems showing a masked, armed individual tampering with the camera the morning of her disappearance. All members of the Guthrie family, including spouses, have been formally cleared as suspects in the case.

The renewed scam warning comes amid ongoing scrutiny of both the investigation’s pace and Savannah Guthrie’s continued public role while her mother remains missing. Guthrie was again absent from her seat on Monday’s broadcast of “Today,” replaced by co-host Sheinelle Jones for the second time in as many weeks, according to reporting from Jubilee Cast. In late June, Guthrie made an emotional on-air appeal to viewers following reports that one of the ransom notes sent to her family had claimed her mother was dead. “I just want to take the opportunity to ask people, to really to beg people to come forward. Somebody knows something,” Guthrie said at the time. “This is a new story today that is on your radar, but this is the life that my sister lives, I live, my brother lives, our extended families live, our children live every day. We are in agony.” She continued, “We cannot be at peace no matter how much I try to come out here every day and smile and find that joy, and I will, I promise I will, this is the moment to tell you that we need your help. We’re begging for your help. I’m not going to miss that opportunity. And so please, if you’re watching, no matter how small the reward is there, you can tell us. It can be anonymous. Please do the right thing for us, for our family, for our children. We love our mom. We’ll never stop looking for her, never.”

More recently, Guthrie issued a statement to Tucson-based outlet KOLD 13 News marking five months since her mother’s disappearance. “It is five months of agony and unending trauma for our family,” she said. “There is not a moment that goes by that we aren’t actively trying to find our mom. We thank the people of Tucson for holding her in their hearts, as well as both the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Office for their tireless work on behalf of our family. Bring her home.”

Separately, a new TMZ report citing an unnamed FBI source claimed that whoever took Guthrie panicked following her death and subsequently retreated from earlier money demands, though that account has not been independently confirmed by law enforcement and remains part of an active, unresolved investigation. No suspects have been officially named in the case, and no arrests directly tied to Guthrie’s disappearance have been made more than five months after she was reported missing.

Nanos has previously described the investigation’s continued reliance on forensic genealogy and DNA analysis as a central piece of the ongoing effort to identify a suspect, telling KOLD 13 News, “Especially when you throw in genealogy — now, you’ve got… this may not be the bad guy, but this person might be the bad guy’s relative three times over. So, that has to be broken down to see if this might be someone of interest to us.” The FBI has separately increased its financial reward in the case from $50,000 to $100,000 for information leading to Guthrie’s location or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance, part of a combined reward from the FBI, 88-CRIME and the Guthrie family that now totals more than $1.2 million.

Anyone with information related to Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance is urged to contact the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at 520-351-4900 or 88-CRIME at 520-882-7463. Digital photos, video or doorbell-camera footage can be submitted directly to the FBI at fbi.gov/findguthrie. Authorities have continued to stress that no legitimate communication from investigators will ever request money, and have asked the public to report any posts, emails or messages claiming otherwise as the search for Nancy Guthrie continues.

SK Hynix’s newly listed American depositary shares surged 23.85%, or $36.33, to $188.68 in Tuesday afternoon trading, erasing much of the losses from Monday’s historic single-day plunge and pushing the stock to a fresh high since its Nasdaq debut just four days earlier.

Tuesday’s rally capped one of the more volatile stretches in recent memory for a newly public company. SK Hynix’s American depositary receipts opened trading Friday, July 10, at $170 and closed their debut session up nearly 13% at $168.01, part of a $26.5 billion offering that marked the largest-ever U.S. listing by a foreign company. The stock then plunged Monday alongside a broader rout in Korean markets, with the underlying Seoul-listed shares falling 15.4% in the stock’s worst single-day decline on record, dragging the ADR down as much as 9% and triggering a market-wide trading halt on South Korea’s Kospi index. By Tuesday, the stock had reversed sharply higher, climbing well above its earlier debut levels.

Several factors converged to drive Tuesday’s rebound. A cooler-than-expected June consumer price index report in the United States helped fuel a broader risk-on mood across markets, with the Nasdaq 100 rising roughly 1% and lifting sentiment across the chip and memory sector generally. South Korea’s Kospi staged its own V-shaped recovery Tuesday, aided in part by comments from SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son at the annual SoftBank World conference in Tokyo, where he predicted the artificial intelligence sector would require $5 trillion in annual investment by 2040 and dismissed concerns about an AI bubble.

The more immediate catalyst behind Tuesday’s sharp move, according to multiple market analysts, was the launch of new leveraged, single-stock exchange-traded funds tied directly to SK Hynix. GraniteShares launched both a 2x Long SK hynix Daily ETF, trading under the ticker SKUU, and a corresponding 2x Short version, SKDD, while ProShares rolled out its own 2x long single-stock fund, ProShares Ultra SK hynix, trading as SKHU. The introduction of those geared products, combined with the start of options trading on SKHY shares on U.S. exchanges Tuesday, pulled in heavy trading volume that amplified the stock’s underlying moves in both directions.

Daniel Kirsch, head of options at Piper Sandler, said the newly available options market was likely to draw significant short-term speculative activity. “Traders are expected to aggressively position for short-term trades betting on further gains in SK Hynix ADR this week,” Kirsch said, adding that demand for short-dated call options was likely to heat up further, with contracts expiring this Friday potentially attracting a rapid influx of retail investors. The most actively traded options contract as of Tuesday afternoon was a $185 strike call, with volume around 2,900 contracts, followed closely by a $145 strike put, while August calls with a $200 strike price also drew significant interest, with volume exceeding 1,500 contracts.

Analysts at research firm TradingKey cautioned that Monday’s rout stemmed more from technical correction and liquidity dynamics than from any fundamental deterioration in SK Hynix’s underlying business. “SK Hynix’s current decline stems more from technical corrections and liquidity shocks following excessive earlier gains, and the medium-term supply-demand dynamics of HBM have not undergone any directional shift,” the firm wrote, referring to high-bandwidth memory, the specialized chip category that has powered much of SK Hynix’s recent growth as a key supplier to Nvidia and other artificial intelligence infrastructure customers. UBS reiterated a buy rating on the stock in early July, raising its price target on the Korean shares to 3.2 million won and projecting SK Hynix’s 2026 operating profit would reach 32.7 trillion won, roughly 27% above the broader market consensus.

Not every analyst has turned uniformly bullish following the recent volatility. A separate analysis from FX Leaders cautioned that the ADR remains technically vulnerable, noting that a sustained rebound would require SKHY to reclaim and hold above the $162 to $168 range to restore confidence in the post-listing rally, while a break below the $149 to $150 zone, near the original IPO price, could open the door to further declines toward $145 or $140 if broader chip-sector weakness resumes. “Until the ADR premium narrows or Q2 earnings confirm that expectations remain achievable, investors may continue treating rallies with caution,” the firm wrote.

That premium has become a notable point of focus among analysts tracking the stock. According to Bloomberg, the premium for SK Hynix’s American depositary receipts over their Korean-listed shares had swelled to nearly 50% just three days after the stock’s U.S. trading debut, a gap some market strategists attribute to the ADR’s smaller, thinner float relative to the much larger pool of shares traded in Seoul, along with strong U.S. retail demand for direct exposure to the AI memory theme.

Tuesday’s rally lifted sentiment across the broader memory chip sector. Micron Technology shares rose roughly 5%, extending a rally that had already pushed Micron stock up 229% year to date through Monday’s close, following the company’s fiscal third-quarter results, which showed revenue of $41.46 billion and adjusted earnings of $25.11 per share. Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra pointed to the “strategic value of memory in the AI era” in describing the results. SanDisk shares rose about 4% and Western Digital gained roughly 1%, while the Roundhill Memory ETF, a sector-focused fund with heavy weightings in Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron, climbed about 6%.

Analysts have generally cautioned that the combination of a newly listed stock, a comparatively thin float and the sudden introduction of leveraged trading products creates conditions ripe for outsized volatility in either direction. Investors considering exposure to SK Hynix at current levels have been advised by several market commentators to treat the leveraged single-stock ETFs specifically as short-term speculative trading tools rather than buy-and-hold investments, given the compounding and volatility decay risks disclosed by the funds’ own issuers, which note that investors can lose money even if the underlying stock rises over periods longer than a single trading day, and that a full loss of principal is possible within one session.

With SK Hynix’s formal second-quarter earnings report still pending and major cloud providers including Microsoft scheduled to report their own results later this month, analysts said the coming weeks are likely to offer a clearer signal on whether Tuesday’s sharp rebound reflects renewed confidence in the underlying AI memory demand story or simply another leg of the extreme volatility that has characterized the stock since its record-setting Nasdaq debut just four trading days ago.