The Australian sharemarket has risen, shrugging off a weak finish on Wall Street after a sell-off in the US tech giants and amid heightened tensions between the United States and Iran.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 21.5 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 8613.6 by 10.10am AEST as eight out of 11 sectors climbed led by energy stocks and the big miners.

The S&P 500 finished down 0.3 per cent after a volatile session. It was bolstered earlier in the session by the latest US-China trade talks and a muted US consumer price inflation report before finishing lower. Apple dropped 2 per cent.

In commodities, oil spiked 5 per cent in late New York trading hours towards $US70 a barrel, while gold rose by almost 1 per cent after President Donald Trump said he was growing less confident that Tehran would agree to stop enriching uranium.

Iranian Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said that if Iran were subjected to strikes it would retaliate by hitting US bases in the region.

US Treasuries also climbed after a solid $US39 billion sale of 10-year debt, while the US dollar hit the lowest level since 2023.

On the ASX, Woodside Energy led oil stocks higher, rising more than 2 per cent, while BHP Group fell 0.4 per cent. Modest gains in the big banks also buoyed the market, with Commonwealth Bank adding another 0.4 per cent on Thursday.

Stocks in focus

In corporate news, Monash IVF rose by 4.1 per cent after announcing chief executive Michael Knaap had resigned following the company reporting its second embryo incident in as many months.

Cochlear shares fell 3.8 per cent after the hearing implant company downgraded its earnings guidance to between $390 million and $400 million from the range of $410 million to $430 million following slower-than-expected sales growth this year.

AGL Energy shares fell 1.3 per cent after it confirmed that it’s “conducting preliminary investigations” about it stake in Tilt Renewables, thought it is not yet in talks with potential buyers. That announcement follows a Street Talk report of a potential sale of AGL’s 20 per cent equity interest in Tilt Renewables.

Cettire shares fell 22.6 per cent after the discount luxury retailer reported sales revenue grew by 1.7 per cent in FY25 to $693.8 million, up from $682.2 million the year before, after weaker demand in the United States was partially offset by stronger performances in emerging markets.