The Business

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 17:35:25 +0000

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The Biggest Market Sell-off Since 'Liberation Day' | ABC NEWS

| The ASX has been hit with a sharp sell-off, as the Brent crude oil price skyrockets as much as 25 per cent to almost $US120 a barrel. It's the Australian market's worst day since the "Liberation Day" sell-off in April 2025. The ASX 200 closed down 2.9 per cent. Wall Street tumbled after the continuation of Middle East hostilities sent oil prices rocketing and new data showed a sharp deterioration in the US jobs market. AMP's deputy chief economist Diana Mousina says "markets are finally responding to news that this is probably not going to be resolved as quickly as they would have liked." "It's not unusual for markets to act and behave like a deer in the headlights, waiting for the train to hit before everyone piles on", said Roger Montgomery from Montgomery Investment Management. Meanwhile, the president of Chicago-based Northern Trust Asset Management, Michael Hunstad says financial markets don't expect a long-drawn out war.

Strikes on energy facilities across the Middle East have forced Gulf nations to scale back production of oil and gas, forcing up energy prices. MST Financial senior energy analyst, Saul Kavonic thinks crude oil could reach $US150 per barrel. From Asia to Australia's ASX 200, investors are dumping stocks as fears of another inflation spike and stagflation grow. In Australia, motorists are already seeing higher fuel prices. Oxford Economics' Ben Udy says it's going to put more pressure on the Reserve Bank to start hiking interest rates.

Some petrol stations are scrambling to curb demand with one major retailer, United, even telling its wholesale customers it's suspending all allocations across all locations effective immediately as it reassesses supply and cargo. The government insists there's plenty of fuel supplies in the country and Australians shouldn't panic buy.
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