Markets live updates: ASX to fall, Donald Trump's threats against Iran send oil prices surging
The Australian share market is likely to fall in morning trade after Donald Trump left the G7 summit early and said the US would not kill Iran's supreme leader "for now".
This added uncertainty led to significant falls for the Australian dollar, Wall Street and European markets, while oil prices jumped.
See how the trading day unfolds on our blog.
Disclaimer: this blog is not intended as investment advice.
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ABC News
27 minutes ago
- ABC News
Mount Isa faces uncertain future, with imminent closure of copper mine
Mount Isa is set to lose a major industry by the end of July, with Glencore set to close its underground copper mine. The North West Queensland city is bracing for the impact of the closure on the mining community.
ABC News
27 minutes ago
- ABC News
Copper mining and Mount Isa go hand-in-hand. Can one survive without the other?
Dotted along an outback Queensland horizon, mining stacks rise from the red dirt below. Marking the epicentre of one of the richest mineral deposits in the world, these towering cylinders bear the residue of more than 100 years of blood, sweat and tears. For all that time, mining has sustained the city at its doorstep — Mount Isa. Eighteen months ago, Swiss commodity trader Glencore announced it would close a significant portion of its Mount Isa Mines complex — the underground copper operation — by July this year. In that time, the company has reduced the expected redundancies from 1,200 to 500. But that hasn't eased the next big threat: to shutter other key assets if government doesn't intervene. Separated only by the width of a rail track, it's hard to distinguish where the Mount Isa Mines (MIM) complex ends and the community begins. It's always been that way. Prospector John Campbell Miles stumbled upon the rocky outcrops that would become the city in 1923. A year later, Mount Isa was born. "From those days, Mount Isa has always been fighting for our existence," local historian Kim-Maree Burton said. From company takeovers to stock market turmoil to industrial disputes, the local community has weathered each storm in its path. "It's our character, regardless of the parental ownership, MIM is part and parcel of this city," she said. "Could we have a city without the mine? I don't think so. Could we have the mine without the city? I don't think so. "We're two peas in a pod, we need each other." That's a sentiment shared by many of the 19,000 residents who call the place home. A born and bred Mount Isan, former local business owner Brett Peterson wasn't surprised when Glencore announced it was ceasing operations at the underground copper site. Threats to shutter other key assets like the copper smelter in Mount Isa and copper refinery in Townsville have stoked fears far and wide. "I don't want Mount Isa to end up as a small town, there's too much happening here," he said. Mount Isa is home to one of only two copper smelters in Australia and is the only one that can process third-party product. In countries like China and Indonesia, treatment costs are heavily subsidised by local governments. In a statement, Glencore interim chief operating officer Troy Wilson said the company could not keep up. "Smelters and refineries like those in Mount Isa and Townsville must be able to compete internationally to survive," Mr Wilson said. The company admitted these assets could close "this year if we cannot reach an agreement with the Queensland or federal governments." Four-yearly maintenance on the copper smelter to the tune of $30 million is due in 2026. But Glencore is seeking a much larger bailout, making a pointed comparison to the Whyalla Steelworks, which received a $2.4 billion package in February. Queensland Premier David Crisafulli has been vocal on the need for these assets to stay operational, but neither the state nor federal government has promised any solid funding yet. "Mount Isa's been pretty good to Glencore over a long period of time, I think Glencore needs to be pretty good to Mount Isa now because that is a city on its knees," Mr Crisafulli told the ABC earlier in June. In a statement, a spokesperson for federal Minister for Industry and Innovation Tim Ayres said the Australian government was monitoring the situation and discussions were continuing. "Closure of the smelter would have downstream impacts for a number of facilities … the Australian government will work with the Queensland government on the path ahead." You only have to look at the remnants of once-bustling mining towns nearby to know what's at stake. The town of Mary Kathleen 50 kilometres from Mount Isa was born off the back of the uranium boom of the 1950s. At its peak, the community was entirely self-sufficient, with homes, a school, cinema, even an Olympic-sized swimming pool. But by 1982, when the ore deposit was exhausted, the town was stripped bare and sold off at auction. Mount Isa's population is already projected to decline, and the city council is preparing for a worst-case scenario of 50 per cent if no other projects start up. But long-time residents are confident Mount Isa won't suffer the same fate as its neighbour. "Mary Kathleen was totally different, it was a company town," Ms Burton said. President of Commerce North West Johno Neilsen points to Mount Isa's critical role as a service hub in the outback as proof the city will survive. "We've got the largest hospital in the region; health is a major employer. "That's the saving grace; there's a lot of industries that are still prevalent in town." For Mr Peterson, the looming threat of further closures isn't enough to make him pack up and abandon the city he's lived in all his life. "But we need to see some change on the horizon," he said.
West Australian
37 minutes ago
- West Australian
Israel-Iran war: Trump says Iran ‘weeks away' from bomb as nuclear talks rejected, UN urges restraint
US President Donald Trump has declared Iran is weeks, if not months away from developing a nuclear weapon, while Iran says it will not discuss the future of its nuclear program while under attack by Israel and Europe tries to coax Tehran back into negotiations. Mr Trump has brushed off intelligence community views that Iran's weapons program was not that advanced. Speaking at Bedminster, New Jersey, where he announced a peace agreement between Rwanda and the Congo, Mr Trump said, 'It looks like I'm right about the material they've gathered'. 'It's a tremendous amount of material and I think within a matter of weeks or at most a matter of months they were going to have enough material for a nuclear weapon,' he said 'And we can't let that happen.' Mr Trump said he was willing to give Iran time to 'come to their senses' but said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's request to get Israel to stop its attacks as a precondition of negotiations wasn't going to happen. 'I think it's very hard to make that request if someone's winning; it's a lot harder than if someone is losing,' he told reporters. 'But we are ready, willing and able, we've been speaking to Iran and we'll see what happens. We are giving it time to see if people come to their senses. President Trump reiterated that Iran had a 'maximum' of two weeks to avoid possible US air strikes, alluding that he could make a decision earlier. He added that Iran 'doesn't want to talk to Europe,' with little faith talks between European powers and Iran in Geneva could resolve the conflict. A week into its campaign, Israel said on Friday it had struck dozens of military targets, including missile production sites, a research body it said was involved in nuclear weapons development in Tehran and military facilities in western and central Iran. The Israeli military later said they had struck surface-to-air missile batteries in southwestern Iran as part of efforts to achieve air superiority over the country. Explosions were heard in Iran's southwestern Khuzestan province and at least four people there were killed, IRNA news agency reported. At least five people were injured when Israel hit a five-storey building in Tehran housing a bakery and a hairdresser's, Fars news agency reported. Iranian air defences were activated on Friday evening, Fars news agency reported. Iran fired missiles at Beersheba in southern Israel and Haifa in the north, causing damage to an Ottoman-era mosque, according to Foreign Minister Gideon Saar. A foreign ministry video also showed extensive damage to a nearby high-rise building that houses a branch of Israel's Interior Ministry. About 20 missiles were fired in those latest Iranian strikes, an Israeli military official said, and at least two people were hurt, according to the Israeli ambulance service. Israel's envoy to the United Nations, Danny Danon, told the UN Security Council his country would not stop its attacks 'until Iran's nuclear threat is dismantled'. Iran's UN envoy Amir Saeid Iravani called for Security Council action and said Tehran was alarmed by reports that the US may join the war. The head of the UN nuclear watchdog warned against attacks on nuclear facilities and called for maximum restraint. 'Armed attack on nuclear facilities... could result in radioactive releases with great consequences within and beyond the boundaries of the state which has been attacked,' Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the Security Council. Israel says it is determined to destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities but that it wants to avoid any nuclear disaster. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, also speaking at the world body's Security Council, said the Iran-Israel conflict could 'ignite a fire no one can control' and called on all parties to 'give peace a chance'. Russia and China demanded immediate de-escalation. The White House said on Thursday the president would decide on US involvement in the conflict in the next two weeks. Mr Trump presided over a national security meeting about Iran on Friday with top aides at the White House, a US official said. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said there was no room for negotiations with the US 'until Israeli aggression stops'. But he later arrived in Geneva for talks with European foreign ministers at which Europe hopes to establish a path back to diplomacy over Iran's nuclear program. A senior Iranian official told Reuters Iran was ready to discuss limitations on uranium enrichment but that any proposal for zero enrichment - not being able to enrich uranium at all - would be rejected, 'especially now under Israel's strikes'. Israel's Foreign Minister Saar, speaking in Haifa, said he was very sceptical about Iran's intentions. 'We know from the record of Iran they are not negotiating honestly,' he said. Israel began attacking Iran last Friday, saying its longtime enemy was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran, which says its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes, retaliated with missile and drone strikes on Israel. Israel is widely assumed to possess nuclear weapons. It neither confirms nor denies this. Israeli air attacks have killed 639 people in Iran, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, a US-based human rights organisation that tracks Iran. The dead include the military's top echelon and nuclear scientists. In Israel, 24 civilians have been killed in Iranian missile attacks, according to authorities. Reuters could not independently verify casualty figures for either side. Western and regional officials say Israel is trying to shatter the government of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
