Australian shares rallied on Friday, following stocks on Wall Street higher, as investors reacted to rising hopes of a peace agreement to end the conflict in the Middle East.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index jumped 1.98%, or 170.80 points, to close at 8,804.

US President Donald Trump said the US had cancelled planned strikes against Iran, and that the US and Iran could sign a peace agreement as soon as ​this weekend. He said negotiations with Tehran had advanced to the highest ⁠levels of Iran's leadership. Brent oil futures fell to around $88 per barrel.

Overnight, the S&P 500 rose 1.8%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained nearly 1.9%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.5%.

On the domestic front, the number of seasonally adjusted filled jobs in Australia was unchanged from initial data, according to a report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Filled jobs rose 0.6% to 16.2 million in the March quarter, following a 0.3% increase in the December 2025 quarter. Total jobs rose 0.7% to 16.5 million, while job vacancies were up 5.2% to 344,000.

In company news, Magellan Financial Group (ASX:MFG) said the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission approved the company's merger with Barrenjoey Capital Partners. Magellan expects to complete the merger in early July, and it plans to seek shareholder approval at an Oct. 22 meeting to change its name to Barrenjoey Group.

Monash IVF Group (ASX:MVF) now expects fiscal year 2026 underlying net profit after tax of AU$17 million to AU$18 million. It earlier guided for a full fiscal year underlying net profit after tax of AU$20 million. The outlook cut is driven by lower-than-expected activity in the Australian assisted reproductive technology market in the fiscal second half.

Lastly, ANZ Group Holdings (ASX:ANZ, NZE:ANZ) said that ANZ Bank New Zealand Chief Executive and ANZ Bank group executive Antonia Watson will retire, effective Sept. 30. ANZ Bank New Zealand Chief Risk Officer Ben Kelleher was named as her successor, subject to Reserve Bank of New Zealand non-objection and other regulatory engagement.