Updated August 7, 2026 — 5:47pm,first published August 7, 2026 — 5:23am
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The Australian sharemarket maintained momentum to end the week slightly below its previous peak, with tech stock Atlassian surging as it posted results after Wall Street’s closing bell.
The S&P/ASX 200 closed down just 8 points on Friday to 9263.6, retreating slightly from its record close on Thursday. The Australian dollar was steady at US70.35¢.
Gold miners performed strongly as the price of gold steady above $US4200 an ounce. Dual listed Newmont Corporation jumped 2.68 per cent, Northern Star ended the day 2.3 per cent higher while Evolution Mining dipped by 3.08 per cent.
Resource giant BHP was steady and rival Rio Tinto edged up slightly, but Fortescue fell 2.33 per cent as iron ore prices slid lower. BHP and Rio Tinto executives have reportedly been invited by the White House to a meeting with Donald Trump on the weekend to demonstrate the administration’s commitment to wean the US off supply chains dominated by China.
Financial stocks lost ground, with all the big four banks retreating. Commonwealth Bank lost 1.03 per cent, National Australia Bank fell 1.1 per cent while Westpac and ANZ Bank each gave up 1.56 and 1 per cent respectively.
Energy stocks climbed after oil prices rose again on reports that Iran attacked “hostile targets” in the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran seeking to bar US ships from the critical waterway in a deal with Oman. West Texas Intermediate rose above $US78 a barrel, after surging almost 3 per cent in the previous session, while Brent settled around $US82. Woodside Energy and Santos advanced slightly.
Technology stocks were mixed. WiseTech surged 4.27 per cent and Xero gained 1.47 per cent. Technology One advanced 0.61 per cent but NEXTDC lost 1.47 per cent over the day.
Overnight, the S&P 500 fell 0.2 per cent, and was just below the record it reached on Tuesday (US time). The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.9 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.1 per cent.
Atlassian, a leading provider of AI-powered collaboration and team productivity software, surged 32.7 per cent in after-hours trade after releasing robust results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year.
Total revenue grew 28 per cent year-over-year to $US1.77 billion ($2.5 billion) and cloud revenue growth rose 31 per cent year-on-year.
“Q4 closes out a year that proves our long-term strategy is paying off,” said Mike Cannon‑Brookes, Atlassian’s CEO and co‑founder.
Wall Street has calmed over the last two days. Companies from a mix of sectors reported their latest financial results, adding to an already busy round of corporate earnings reports.
“August is off to an extremely strong start, but there is still plenty of August left to go, and August is typically a volatile month for stocks,” said Clark Bellin, president and chief investment officer at Bellwether Wealth, in a research note.