Truck drivers have warned that Australia's fuel crisis could bring the industry to a standstill, as petrol prices rise and diesel wholesale prices hit new record highs. The government has cautioned that the US-Iran ceasefire will not make fuel cheaper, despite a two-week conditional truce reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
The Australian share market recorded its biggest gain in a year, adding over $65bn in value on the ASX in response to the ceasefire announcement. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed at 8,951.8 points, up 2.55%, its largest single-day increase since April 2025. However, oil prices plunged nearly 15% after Donald Trump said he would suspend bombing of Iran for two weeks.
Eight of the ASX's 11 sectors reported gains, while the energy sector suffered steep losses. Shares in Australia's biggest oil and gas company, Woodside Energy, fell by more than 10%. Madison Cartwright, a senior geo-economics analyst at the Commonwealth Bank, said the ceasefire likely brought forward the end of the Iran war from June to May, but cautioned it was only the beginning of a potential resolution.
In other news, Ben Roberts-Smith will remain in jail for at least a week after his legal team declined to apply for bail on Wednesday, following his arrest on war crimes charges. Former prime minister John Howard released a statement saying the arrest 'will tug at the heart strings of millions of Australians' and that Roberts-Smith is 'the modern personification of the great Anzac tradition' to some.
Thousands of Australian ute drivers have been urged to return their Toyota Hilux vehicles to the manufacturer due to a potentially deadly steering fault. The federal transport department issued a recall for 13,390 Hilux utes produced between August 2025 and February 2026, fitted with bull or nudge bars that could cause electrical problems.
