ASX 200 futures were up 14 points (+0.15%) at 8:30 am AEDT, indicating a slightly stronger open for the local market.
The ASX200 slipped 19 points (-0.22%) to 8,799 after an early push to 8,843.6 faded as selling in CBA weighed on the index.
Banks were mixed—CBA fell 3.07% to $158.38, extending a two-day slide of ~9.5% and sitting ~17.5% below its June peak—while ANZ gained 1.81% to $38.85.
Funds rotated into miners, lifting Rio Tinto, BHP and Fortescue, and sending Mineral Resources up 9.19% on a $1.2b lithium JV stake sale to POSCO; Liontown and IGO also advanced.
Tech lagged with sharp falls in Life360, Zip and Xero. Ahead of today’s jobs report, markets expect unemployment to ease to 4.4% on around 20,000 new roles, with pricing implying ~3bp of RBA easing in December and ~18bp of cuts by June 2026.
Rotation lifts Dow to record
US stocks rotated again, pushing the Dow to a record as investors trimmed richly valued tech and favoured rate-sensitive blue chips. Healthcare and financials led gains, with Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley higher, while big tech names such as Oracle, Palantir and Meta slipped; AMD bucked the trend with a 9% jump on an upbeat AI outlook. Energy weakened alongside lower oil prices.
With a government reopening in sight, investors are bracing for a rush of delayed data even as some October series may be lost before the 10 December FOMC; futures imply ~15bp of cuts in December and ~84bp by December 2026, and Disney, JD.com and Applied Materials report next.
Europe — Banks lead fresh records
European markets notched a second straight record close as relief over a likely end to the US shutdown supported risk appetite.
Banks led the move, helped by ABN Amro’s gains after upbeat results and a deal to buy NIBC to strengthen its Dutch footprint.
- The FTSEurofirst 300 rose 0.8%.
- London’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.1%.
The rotation into financials and defensives contrasted with softer energy sentiment following the pullback in crude.
Currencies & commodities
The US dollar was mixed: the euro hovered near US$1.1585, the Aussie firmed to around US$0.6540 and the yen eased toward ¥154.75.
Oil fell sharply after an OPEC report pointed to balanced supply and demand by 2026, with Brent down 3.8% to US$62.71 and WTI off 4.2% to US$58.49.
Base metals firmed—copper up 0.8% and aluminium 1.1%—while iron ore added 0.6% to US$104.17 a tonne. Gold climbed about 2.4% to roughly US$4,214/oz as Treasury yields slipped.
Looking ahead
Australia’s labour force report is due, with Orica and GrainCorp reporting and ANZ trading ex-dividend. In the US, jobless claims and CPI timing hinges on the shutdown resolution, while Disney headlines earnings.