Events in the Middle East are again overshadowing developments in the domestic economy as the Iran conflict stretches into its eighth week.
The benchmark oil price fell below $US90 a barrel for the first time in more than a month after Iran announced on Friday night, AEST, that the Strait of Hormuz would be open to commercial shipping for the duration of a 10-day truce between Israel and Lebanon.
But traders were left in limbo by Sunday after Iran again closed the vital waterway in retaliation to an ongoing US blockade on Iran's use of the strait, leaving hundreds of vessels stuck in the Persian Gulf.