Market Wrap / what a week!

Iran’s chokehold of the Strait of Hormuz soured investor sentiment this Friday following what has been a positive week for the Australian sharemarket. The S&P/ASX200 slipped 0.14% by the close to 8,960.60, though still managed to notch a weekly gain of 4.4% - its best weekly gain since October 2022.

Oil inched higher following its recent dip on news of a ceasefire between the US and Iran, up 0.7% to US$96.60 a barrel. 

Locally, tech led the declines, tracking a software sell-off on Wall Street, with the sector down 1.4% as heavyweight WiseTech fell 2.6%. 

Life360 also came under pressure, down 3.3% after chief executive Lauren Antonoff revealed the company had parted ways with an undisclosed number of roles as it reshapes for an AI future.

Elsewhere, Fortescue announced its plans to eliminate fossil fuels across parts of its Pilbara operations, bringing forward its decarbonisation timeline. The share price slipped 1.3% in line with a broader materials selloff. 

While Magellan Financial Group has backed its $1.6bn Barrenjoey takeover, with over 92% of proxy votes in favour, gaining a slight 1.2% over the day. 

Tonight, core US CPI data is set to be released.