Australia politics live: ASX expected to rebound after Trump calls Iran war a ‘short-term excursion’; Albanese reveals 2am conversation with US president

From 18m ago 21.42 GMT Jonathan Barrett ASX to rebound on Trump comments Australian shares are poised to rebound strongly today after Donald Trump called the war on Iran a “short-term excursion”, raising investor hopes that oil supply in the Middle East would soon normalise. Futures pricing indicates the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 will rise more than 2.2% this morning to the 8,750 point market, erasing a large part of yesterday’s steep losses. Equity markets have been pulled up and down by the Middle East conflict given energy disruptions and increased oil costs contribute to global inflation by elevating costs across nearly all goods and services. The latest bout of optimism was sparked by Trump’s comments overnight indicating the conflict could end sooner than expected. He also said vessels were already beginning to move more freely through the crucial Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices fell overnight in response and Wall Street stocks climbed, paving the way for a bounce on the ASX today. Chris Weston, the head of research at Melbourne-based financial firm Pepperstone, said this morning that the “pressure valve” has clearly been released for now. double quotation mark However, volatility across energy markets remains exceptionally elevated. The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in Perth on Monday. Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock Share Updated at 21.47 GMT

now 21.59 GMT Four flights scheduled to depart from Dubai to Australia today Four flights from Dubai to Sydney, Melbourne and Perth are scheduled to depart from Dubai today, though the situation remains volatile. The first flight, from Dubai to Sydney is due to depart in a few minutes. The government has confirmed that 2697 Australians have arrived back home from the UAE on 18 direct flights since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran. The government is still encouraging all Australians in the Middle East to take up commercial flights when they’re available, and have been bussing Australians from Qatar to Riyadh to fly out of the Saudi Arabian capital.