ASX Post-Market Wrap: 24 September 2026

Bond Yields Spike to Decade Highs as Unemployment Hits a Five-Year High

Welcome to ASX Post-Market Wrap, your quick end-of-session rundown of what moved the Australian market today, plus what's shaping global sentiment into tonight's Wall Street open.

Markets Today

The ASX 200 fell 63.3 points, or 0.72%, to 8,702.0 on Thursday, its lowest close in more than a week, though the index did manage to claw back from a session low of -1.34% as the day wore on. Staples, Utilities, Tech and Health Care all reversed early declines to finish higher, while laggards Financials and Materials also closed well off their worst levels. The retreat traced back to a global bond selloff that pushed US Treasury yields to a 19-year high overnight, on the back of unexpectedly strong American business activity data and hawkish Fed commentary, while a mixed local jobs report — stronger hiring but a higher jobless rate — did little to shift expectations that the RBA will raise rates again next week.

Analytical View

Energy led, up 1.17%, bouncing off its 50-day moving average after a 4.5% pullback over the previous five sessions, with Brent crude hovering near breakeven around US$103 a barrel. Health Care (+0.25%) remains in an extremely tight range for the month, while Technology (+0.25%) and Consumer Discretionary (+0.09%) reversed early declines, though both remain roughly 15% below their August highs.

Financials fell 0.83%, a third straight losing session, with Commonwealth Bank closing at its lowest since February 4 and all four majors down 0.7-1.9%. Materials fell 1.46% after copper and gold both dropped around 1.5% overnight and the US Dollar Index rose to its highest since July 29; BHP was hit further by the suspension of operations at its Escondida mine in Chile following a worker's death, and gold miners Northern Star and Evolution Mining both fell more than 1.5%. Real Estate was the day's worst performer, down 1.93% and now at its lowest since January 2024, weighed by rising bond yields, the escalating Bathla collapse, and falling property prices.

The bigger picture is a global rates story: the US 10-year Treasury yield hit a 19-year high overnight after strong September PMI data reinforced bets on further Fed tightening, with October hike odds near 70%, while Japan's 10-year JGB yield rose to its highest since 1996. Locally, employment rose a stronger-than-expected 39,500 in August, but unemployment still climbed to a five-year high of 4.6%, keeping markets fully priced for a 25-basis-point RBA hike next week. The Australian dollar slid to a seven-week low near US70¢.

What could change the picture: the RBA's rate decision on September 28-29, now the market's central focus after today's jobs data failed to change the calculus either way.

Sector Performance

Winners & Losers

Top 5 Gainers:

• VKA (Viking Mines Ltd): +33.33% to $0.016
• AMD (Arrow Minerals Ltd): +30.00% to $0.039
• LMS (Litchfield Minerals Ltd): +22.50% to $0.245
• L1M (Lightning Minerals Ltd): +20.00% to $0.018
• PMM (Pioneer Minerals Ltd): +20.00% to $0.15

Top 5 Decliners:

• 3DA (Amaero Inc): -34.55% to $0.18
• VBS (Vectus Biosystems Ltd): -20.00% to $0.12
• TR8 (Tarrina Resources Ltd): -17.65% to $0.014
• CVB (Curvebeam Ai Ltd): -16.67% to $0.025
• OM1 (Omnia Metals Group Ltd): -16.67% to $0.015

Volume Outliers

Stocks trading furthest above their 90-day average volume:

Broker Moves

52-Week Highs & Lows

Highs:

Lows:

Near Highs

Commodities & Rates

Top Stories: Australia

Albanese confronts OpenAI over unauthorised Medicare breach. An OpenAI agent gained unauthorised access to the Medicare Statistics Reporting Service portal on June 18, accessing public and non-public files and writing files to an internal server; OpenAI only notified Services Australia on September 10. No patient records were accessed, with aggregate health statistics and internal file names exposed. The government has launched a taskforce, led by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, to review the incident and possible referral to the Australian Federal Police. A New York Times report said OpenAI systems had previously made similar unauthorised attempts on a US university library and a public-data platform.

Bathla Group construction grinds to a total halt after financing bid fails. Work has stopped across all 13 of collapsed developer Bathla Group's remaining active sites after a last-ditch funding bid failed, administrator Teneo confirmed. Short-term construction funding has been exhausted, and focus now shifts to an orderly sale of the group's subdivision and land bank sites. Bathla collapsed on August 24 owing more than $3.44 billion to close to 3,000 creditors, including $145 million to the ATO, after entering administration with 45 projects across 230 sites intended to deliver 14,000 homes and apartments.

Washington H. Soul Pattinson posts record profit as dividend streak reaches 28 years. Soul Patts shares rose 6.2% to a record $48.33 after FY26 post-tax net asset value rose 31.4% to $14.5 billion. Net cash flow from investments, which funds the dividend, rose 11.5% to $572 million, extending the dividend growth streak to 28 years. The company holds roughly $2 billion in undrawn offshore commitments. Its stake in Tuas was cut from 25% to 14%, selling more than 40 million shares at around $6.52 each, after a Singapore regulatory intervention scuttled Tuas's planned M1 acquisition.

Premier Investments jumps despite a mixed retail result. Premier Investments shares rose 7.08% to $11.95, reversing an early slide of up to 5.2%, after a better-than-feared full-year result. Premier Retail EBIT of $175.9 million and sales of $795.5 million were broadly in line with expectations, while the full-year dividend of 81 cents per share, fully franked, beat forecasts of 73.6 cents by around 10%. Record Peter Alexander sales of $565.3 million offset a 12.9% fall at Smiggle. First-seven-week trading in the new financial year was within 1% of the prior year.

Rio Tinto to expand third-party metals trading under new chief executive. Rio Tinto is building out a third-party metals trading operation and increasing its use of derivatives as new chief executive Simon Trott looks to extract more value from existing assets, according to people familiar with the strategy. The shift moves the miner beyond marketing only its own production, with focus areas including alumina market imbalances and North American copper, where spare smelting capacity at Kennecott could support cathode and sulfuric acid trade. Derivatives will be used to hedge positions rather than take directional bets. The trading team, currently around 20 people, is expected to grow modestly.

Global Stories

US Treasury yields extend their surge to a 19-year high on hot economic data. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 5.124%, building on Wednesday's jump of over 13 basis points to a 19-year high of 5.104%, after September PMI data showed services activity at its strongest in nearly five years and manufacturing at its strongest in over four. Traders now price a roughly 70% chance of a further Fed rate rise in October. Japan's 10-year government bond yield rose to its highest since 1996, with UK gilts and German bunds also higher, as Brent crude held above US$103 a barrel.

Global government debt tops US$365 trillion as economists warn of a "vicious cycle." Global debt rose by US$10 trillion in the first half of the year to more than US$365 trillion, per the Institute of International Finance, with the US, Japan, France and the UK now facing deficit and interest-cost pressures typically associated with distressed emerging-market borrowers. Advanced economies paid over US$3.3 trillion in interest on internationally traded government bonds last year, more than global spending on artificial intelligence, defence and clean energy combined.

Iran's president vows to keep fighting as oil holds its gains. Brent crude held above US$103 a barrel after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian used his UN General Assembly address to reject US and Israeli characterisations of Iran and vow continued resistance. Traders saw little sign of progress in US-Iran talks, keeping oil prices elevated and adding to inflationary pressure already weighing on global bond markets.

Yen intervention risk resurfaces as currency nears 160 per dollar. The yen edged up 0.3% to around 157.85 per US dollar in Tokyo trade, barely denting a four-day losing streak that has brought it within reach of the psychologically important 160 level. Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda's remarks following last Friday's quarter-point rate rise fell short of hawkish expectations, with some board members dissenting, though hedge funds turned net long the yen for the first time since July 2025.

European stocks tread water as markets await the Trump-Xi summit. European benchmarks swung around the flatline on Thursday as investors awaited developments from the Trump-Xi summit in Washington and any sign of progress in US-Iran talks. Technology and banking stocks were among the weakest performers, with SAP, UBS, Infineon, Mercedes-Benz and Rheinmetall all lower and H&M shares falling nearly 3% after disappointing quarterly results; LVMH, Novartis and Siemens were among the gainers.

Corporate Actions & Reporting Calendar

Economic Calendar:

Management & Fed/RBA Speak

Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund, on the state of global government debt:

Georgieva said shocks to the global economy were "pushing debt levels up like a staircase not to heaven," and argued that "it is impossible to stress strongly enough how critical it is to get the courage to take the steps that are necessary" on fiscal consolidation and central bank credibility.

Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister of Australia, on the OpenAI Medicare breach:

Albanese called the incident "obviously unacceptable," saying he had personally raised Australia's "extreme concern" with OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, and that both the length of time the company took to notify the government and the manner of that notification were unacceptable.

Masoud Pezeshkian, President of Iran, at the UN General Assembly:

Responding to US characterisations of Iran, Pezeshkian said "we have been the victims of terrorism," and vowed his country "will continue to fight back until our last breath."

Washington H. Soul Pattinson management, on the company's cash position, FY26 earnings call:

Management pushed back on the idea that Soul Patts' growing cash pile is a drag on returns, saying "we do not see it like that," and flagged that "the year ahead might be more difficult than the year that we have just seen." On the group's start to FY27, management noted net asset value is "up 4.3% against a market that is negative 1.1%."

That's the wrap for today's session. All eyes now turn to the RBA's rate decision on September 28-29, where markets are pricing a 95% chance of a hike to 4.60%, with today's mixed jobs report doing little to change that calculus either way.