Updated August 17, 2026 — 11:10am,first published August 17, 2026 — 5:22am
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The Australian sharemarket has slid lower in early trade, with National Australia Bank and JB Hi-Fi falling sharply after publishing results.
The S&P/ASX 200 was down 33.7 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 9081.5 in early trade, with six of 11 industry sectors in negative territory.
JB Hi-Fi tumbled 9.6 per cent in early trade after publishing its full-year results. Revenue rose by 4.8 per cent to $11.1 billion, but the retailer warned that the global artificial intelligence boom was squeezing consumer tech supply chains and forcing up wholesale prices.
National Australia Bank was 4.5 per cent lower, with chief executive Andrew Irvine warning that higher interest rates, the government’s housing tax changes and fallout from the war in Iran were creating “challenges and uncertainties” for the bank’s clients.
NAB said on Monday that its unaudited profits of $1.9 billion for the quarter had increased by 32 per cent from the average for the March half, when the bank’s profits were dragged sharply lower by accounting changes.
Irvine said that excluding the impact of large notable items from the previous half, its profits were up 2 per cent, and this was mainly because of lower charges for bad loans. The rest of the big four banks retreated in early trade, with Commonwealth Bank down 0.3 per cent, Westpac shedding 0.9 per cent and ANZ 1.4 per cent lower.
Milk and infant formula giant a2Milk fell 3 per cent as it posted a 5.8 per cent fall in net profit while grappling with supply chain issues in China.
Mining stocks were mixed, with BHP and Rio Tinto adding 0.4 per cent while Fortescue dipped 0.1 per cent. Gold miners advanced, with Northern Star up 0.6 per cent and Evolution Mining adding 0.7 per cent.
Energy stocks climbed, with oil prices advancing at the weekend amid ongoing uncertainty in the Middle East. Woodside Energy rose 0.5 per cent, Santos added 0.6 per cent and refiner Ampol was up 0.6 per cent.
Technology stocks were mixed, with WiseTech shedding 4.1 per cent and Xero 1.4 per cent, but Technology One adding 0.4 per cent.
On Friday on Wall Street, the S&P 500 slipped 0.2 per cent from its record set the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 107 points, or 0.2 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite sank 0.3 per cent.
Also raising uncertainty was a report showing that shoppers spent less at US retailers last month than the month before. That surprised economists, who were forecasting another month of growth.
On the bright side for financial markets, such a pullback in spending could take pressure off inflation. Inflation remains much higher than anyone would like, but reports earlier this week suggested the pace of price increases is decelerating.