Australian share market bounces back as Donald Trump declares two-week ceasefire with Iran

By AIDAN WONDRACZ, ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR, AUSTRALIA Published: 01:30, 8 April 2026 | Updated: 01:50, 8 April 2026 The Australian stock market bounced back 2.5 per cent on Wednesday, soaring $70billion at opening. The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 219 points to 8947.8 at 10.15am. The windfall comes over hopes the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened after US President Donald Trump announced Iran has agreed to a two-week ceasefire. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 15.7 per cent to $US95.18 a barrel - a significant drop from the $110 a few weeks ago. The Australian dollar jumped more than two per cent to US71c.  SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said lower oil prices 'remove the chokehold' that has 'weighed on regional risk sentiment'.  'With crude backing off, the pressure on inflation expectations and front-end yields eases at the margin, and that is enough to let capital rotate back toward risk, at least for now.' Tech, real estate and retailers experienced strong gains, with WiseTech Global rising 5.2 per cent, Xero by 4.4 per cent and Aristocrat Leisure 4.7 per cent.  The windfall comes over hopes the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened after US President Donald Trump announced Iran has agreed to a two-week ceasefire BHP was up 4.2 per cent, as well as Newmont, while Lynas Rare Earths increased by 4.9 per cent.  Trump posted on Truth Social, 'I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks,' after earlier sparking doomsday fears when he threatened to wipe out its 'entire civilization' if they did not reopen the Strait. The President said that after talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif he had been assured that Iran will agree 'to the complete, immediate, and safe opening of the Strait of Hormuz.' 'This will be a double-sided ceasefire,' Trump wrote. 'The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive agreement concerning long-term peace with Iran.' Israel also agreed to halt attacks on Iran for two weeks, a senior White House official told Axios, with the ceasefire taking effect once the Strait of Hormuz is re-opened. Iran accepted the Pakistan-brokered deal after a last-minute Chinese intervention urged Tehran to show flexibility over the war's economic fallout, three Iranian officials told the New York Times. Iran's 10-point plan, published by state-run Tasnim news agency, demands the US accept Tehran's continued control over the Strait, recognize its right to uranium enrichment, lift all sanctions, pay compensation and withdraw all troops from the region.  Iranian officials said that the ceasefire was approved by the new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, despite intelligence reports which say he is in a coma. SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said lower oil prices 'remove the chokehold' that has 'weighed on regional risk sentiment' (stock image) Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed the truce and that 'safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible' during the two-week period. Trump said that the 10-point proposal 'is a workable basis on which to negotiate,' despite saying on Monday that the deal was not 'good enough.' The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.