The local market staged a late recovery to finish flat after sliding 0.5% early on. Conflicting Middle East signals kept investors cautious, with oil prices bouncing 7% after the Strait of Hormuz was re-closed. The index remains stuck below the 9,000-point psychological barrier as "wait and see" mode prevails. NAB dropped 3.6% - its seventh straight loss - after flagging a $706 million bad debt provision linked to the conflict. Viva Energy tumbled 9% as it resumed trade following a refinery fire, while Zip surged another 7.7% on broker upgrades. Focus now shifts to a heavy week of quarterly updates from BHP, Rio Tinto, and Tesla.

Steve Daghlian and Laura Besarati are Market Analysts at CommSec. Each episode, they break down the day's market movements and explain what the numbers really mean.

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