Energy stocks jumped nearly 1% at midday Friday in the first trading session of 2026, with Brent crude futures falling 0.8% on Wednesday.

The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environment Management Authority's (Nopsema) probe found that Woodside Energy Group (ASX:WDS) breached its environmental obligations by continuing the decommissioning operations at the Minerva gas well and pipeline off the coast of Port Campbell in Victoria despite knowing the environmental risks.

Meanwhile, the information technology sector declined 0.2%. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones fell 0.6%, the S&P 500 0.7%, and the Nasdaq 0.8% during the final trading session of 2025.

Hansen Technologies (ASX:HSN) met all the conditions for the acquisition of Digitalk Group Holdings, for an enterprise value of about AU$66.4 million. The completion of the deal was effective on Wednesday.