ASX slips in early trade as miners slump; Treasury Wine Estates soars

Updated June 4, 2026 — 11:30am,first published June 4, 2026 — 5:20am

The Australian sharemarket opened lower on Thursday, after Wall Street was shaken by the latest flare-up in fighting in the Middle East and the Trump administration announced a new 12.5 per cent tariff on Australian exports into America.

The S&P/ASX 200 slumped 101.40 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 6843.30 shortly after 11am AEST, with six of its 11 industry sectors in the red as slumps in the big miners and declines by tech stocks and banks weighed down the market. The losses come after the ASX added 0.7 per cent on Wednesday. The Australian dollar traded at US71.27¢.

Investors had expected the ASX to follow the lead of Wall Street, where the S&P 500 fell from its all-time high overnight after oil prices jumped again amid fears an escalation of hostilities between the US and Iran will hinder prospects for a peace deal. The US and Iran clashed overnight, with Kuwait and Bahrain caught up in one the most serious flare-ups since a ceasefire went into effect in April.

The developments followed days of rising tension, including over Israeli operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, that threatens to derail US-Iran talks. However, oil prices eased this morning after the close of US markets as Washington said Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a ceasefire, which would remove a key sticking point in the peace talks with Tehran. West Texas Intermediate fell toward $US95 a barrel, after rising almost 10 per cent this week, while Brent settled near $US98.

While oil prices let up, local investors were also watching the latest developments in Donald Trump’s trade war on the rest of the world, including Australia. Since the US Supreme Court struck down Trump’s global tariffs in February, his administration has been working to reconstruct them, exploring legal options that would let them build back the wall of tariffs on imports into the US.

Late on Wednesday, the Trump administration unveiled part of its Plan B: a tariff of 10 per cent to 12.5 per cent on 59 countries and the 27-member European Union. The levies were intended to pressure governments that the US claims have not enacted or enforced laws against trading goods made with forced labour. Those tariffs could go into effect as soon as July.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called the fresh tariff threats “unjustified”, as he defended Australia’s slavery response.

Mining stocks led losses in early trade, with the iron ore heavyweights slumping heavily after a report that exports from Guinea’s Simandou iron ore project surged in May, six