Australian Shares Open Flat

2026-03-18 00:35 By Joshua Ferrer 1 min. read

The S&P/ASX 200 was largely unchanged to around 8,600 in Wednesday morning trade, halting gains from the prior session as the ongoing Middle East conflict and a narrow back-to-back rate hike by the RBA weighed on sentiment.

The decision surprised markets with a tight 5–4 split vote, while Governor Bullock stressed that the debate was about timing rather than direction and warned inflation risks remain, reinforcing a hawkish outlook.

Markets lifted bets on another hike in May, with further tightening still priced in by August.

On the geopolitical front, Iranian state media confirmed the death of the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, while renewed strikes on the UAE energy infrastructure heightened concerns over prolonged supply disruptions.

Rate-sensitive financials led the losses, with four of the largest banks down 0.1% to 2%.

Meanwhile, the mining sector was flat, as gold miners fell 0.6%, while heavyweights BHP and Rio Tinto gained 0.5% and 0.2%, respectively.



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