ASX Pre-Market: Thursday, 10 September 2026

Welcome to your morning briefing on overnight Wall Street action and what's set to move the ASX 200 at the open.

SPI 200 futures were down 88 points, or 0.99%, to 8,816 as of the early Thursday AEST session, pointing to a sharply weaker open. The weak lead follows a choppy Wednesday session locally, where the ASX 200 finished down just 0.11% to 8,911.40 despite two intraday reversals, and comes as oil's push through US$100 a barrel and a jump in global bond yields weighed on Wall Street overnight.

Read The Wall Street Wrap: September 9, 2026 for the full session recap.

Overnight Leads + This Morning

Wednesday was a choppy, two-reversal session locally. The ASX 200 finished down 9.40 points, or 0.11%, to 8,911.40, a fresh 20-day low, after an early 0.34% gain faded to a 0.36% intraday decline before a late bid pulled the index back to nearly flat. Financials and Health Care did the damage, while Energy and Materials both rallied on the overnight oil and copper moves, leaving the sector picture genuinely mixed even as the index barely moved. SEEK and PEXA Group were the index's weakest constituents, down 5.60% and 5.50% respectively.

Overnight, oil extended its rally sharply. Brent settled above US$101 a barrel for the first time since July, up 3.36% to US$101.21, while WTI gained 3.25% to US$96.05, both their highest settles since May, as the US-Iran conflict showed no signs of easing. Adding to the pressure, the US Treasury's plan to triple its bond buyback operation to US$6 billion, covering 10- to 20-year debt, landed at the low end of what markets had hoped for (some had expected closer to US$10 billion), and yields rose instead of falling: the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.857%, its highest since November 2023, while the 30-year pushed through the closely watched 5.3% level.

Against that backdrop, Wall Street fell for a third straight session: the Dow dropped 405.41 points (0.77%) to 52,380.66, the S&P 500 shed 0.48% to 7,636.36, the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.64%, the Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.29% to 29,421.553, the Russell 2000 dropped 1.29% to 2,921.942, and the VIX jumped 4.9% to 16.49. Apple also made news well beyond the close, unveiling its first foldable iPhone in new CEO John Ternus's debut keynote.

Analytical View

Wednesday's local session was a straight fight between banks and miners, and the miners won on points even though the banks dragged harder. Financials fell 1%, their weakest close in almost two weeks, with Commonwealth Bank down 2.2% and NAB down 1.5%, as a housing slowdown collided with an increasingly hawkish rate outlook. Health Care was worse still, down 1.5% in its steepest slide in nearly three weeks, dragged by CSL's ex-dividend trade, Cochlear's 3.1% fall, and a negative read-through from a rough overnight session for US health care stocks. On the other side, Materials had their best session since 24 August, up 1.6%, as copper's rally lifted BHP 3.3% and Rio Tinto 1.9%, while Energy jumped 1.7% as Brent pushed back above US$99 on fresh Middle East attacks.

Overnight, the story intensified further. Oil's push through US$100 for the first time since the war began, combined with the Treasury's underwhelming buyback and the resulting jump in global bond yields, is a genuinely difficult combination for equities: higher energy costs feeding inflation at the same time as higher yields raise the discount rate on every other asset. The US 10-year Treasury yield climbed to about 4.84%, its highest since November 2023, adding direct pressure to rate-sensitive equities as oil-driven inflation makes the path for central-bank easing harder to see. That combination pushed Wall Street to a third straight losing session and points to a sharply weaker ASX open, even before accounting for the index's own already-soft Wednesday close. The read-through is particularly pointed for Australian banks, REITs, and growth and technology names, all of which take their cue from where global yields settle.

What could change the picture: Thursday brings the ECB's rate decision, US Producer Price Index data, and weekly jobless claims, all landing before Friday's US CPI print and the RBA's own decision on 29 September.

Sector Performance

Seven of eleven sectors closed lower Wednesday even as the benchmark barely moved, with Energy and Materials the standout gainers on the overnight oil and copper moves, and Health Care the session's biggest drag.

Winners & Losers

(Wednesday 9 September close)

Top 5 Gainers:

• Neurizon Therapeutics (ASX:NUZ): +32.26% to $0.082
• Resolution Minerals (ASX:RML): +28.57% to $0.054
• Iondrive (ASX:ION): +28.00% to $0.16
• Key Petroleum (ASX:KEY): +26.32% to $0.12
• Metgasco (ASX:MEL): +23.53% to $0.021

Top 5 Decliners:

• Echo IQ (ASX:EIQ): -49.41% to $0.648
• Way 2 Vat (ASX:W2V): -24.29% to $0.053
• FOS Capital (ASX:FOS): -20.00% to $0.12
• Jatcorp (ASX:JAT): -16.52% to $0.096
• ARC Funds (ASX:ARC): -15.39% to $0.055

Broker Moves

52-Week Highs & Lows

(Wednesday 9 September close)

Highs:

Lows:

ASX Announcements to Watch

The official ASX feed showed nothing published for 10 September as of this pass; ASX announcements can be released until 7:30pm AEST, so the new Thursday-morning flow is still to come.

• Elders (ASX:ELD), broker downgrade: Bell Potter downgraded the agribusiness company to Hold from Buy this morning, with an improved price target of $6.70. The broker said: "Following the recent recovery in the share price we are moving our rating from Buy to Hold. Investments in Delta and SYSMOD are the largest drivers of near term growth, however, we see the large livestock tailwinds the agency business has benefited from the past two years facing more difficult comparisons moving forward."
• Metcash (ASX:MTS), FY27 trading update at yesterday's AGM: total group sales rose 2.8% excluding tobacco in the first 18 weeks of FY27, led by Total Tools and Hardware (+6.0%) and Liquor (+0.8%), with Food sales up 2.6%. Metcash warned that first-half earnings face pressure from an adverse sales mix, tobacco-excise changes, and persistent cost inflation, and flagged a roughly $2 million earnings hit from winding down its New Zealand liquor operations. Shares fell on the update.
• Austal (ASX:ASB), fresh trading halt: placed in a further pause in trading on 9 September, pending another announcement, just two days after confirming the Wildcat Infrastructure proposal for Austal USA. Shares had finished Wednesday 6% higher at $4.61 before the halt took effect. No timeframe or reason for the pause has been disclosed.
• Westgold Resources (ASX:WGX), FY27 guidance and three-year plan: unveiled a growth plan targeting 385,000-425,000oz of gold production in FY27, rising to 460,000-510,000oz by FY29, which the company says provides a fully funded pathway toward roughly a 500,000oz production base. FY29 all-in sustaining costs are targeted at $2,640-$3,000/oz. Shares fell 5.5% on the announcement even as gold miners broadly came under pressure from higher rate expectations, making this a company-specific positive against a difficult sector backdrop.

Commodities & Rates

Home & Away

Names with a foot in both camps today, ASX movers with direct overseas read-through, and overseas news with a local echo.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL): unveiled its first foldable iPhone, the iPhone Duo, priced at $1,999 and shipping October 23, in new CEO John Ternus's debut keynote. Apple also unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max (both up $100 to $1,199 and $1,299), a redesigned AI-powered Siri, new AirPods 5 at $129, and an Apple Watch Series 12 with an AI-driven Audio Intelligence conversation-summary feature. Apple shares had slipped for a third straight day heading into the event as investors braced for a possible letdown; no confirmed after-event share reaction has been sourced for this pass.

Woodside Energy (ASX:WDS) and Santos (ASX:STO): both could have another positive session after oil prices jumped again overnight. WTI is up 3.9% to US$96.67 a barrel and Brent is up 3.8% to US$101.67, a four-month high, as fighting escalated in the Persian Gulf.

Newmont (ASX:NEM) and Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST): could have a decent day after the gold price edged higher overnight, up 1.06% to US$4,401.83/oz.

Local Catalysts

Banks-versus-miners split carries into today's open. Wednesday's session came down to Financials dragging (down 1%, Commonwealth Bank -2.2%, NAB -1.5%) against Materials and Energy rallying on copper and oil (up 1.6% and 1.7% respectively). With oil extending its gains overnight, that same split looks set to continue.

Australian dollar sits at a four-month high heading into today. The AUD hit US72.33 cents Wednesday, its strongest since mid-May, even as Middle East risk-off would typically weigh on a currency seen as a risk barometer. NAB's head of FX strategy, Ray Attrill, pointed to hawkish RBA commentary this week as the catalyst, with swaps pricing for a September hike lifting to as high as 74%, up from 67% the prior day.

Oil's surge past US$100 feeds directly into RBA rate-hike odds. With crude at four-month highs and global bond yields climbing in tandem, the inflation math the RBA is weighing has gotten harder overnight rather than easier. Market pricing has continued to build toward a September hike, potentially taking the cash rate to 4.60% as soon as this month, with the oil shock now a live input into that call rather than a background factor.

Healthscope ownership vote extended again. The seven-day voting window on a $400 million-plus consortium offer led by Calvary Health Care for the 27-hospital network was scheduled to close Wednesday night but has been pushed back 24 hours, to late Thursday. Further delays are possible, though there are hopes the outcome will be announced by the end of the week. A successful bid would topple an existing plan to turn Healthscope into a not-for-profit entity.

Santos (ASX:STO) CEO pushes back against the gas reservation scheme. Kevin Gallagher used a National Press Club address Wednesday to call for the federal government's proposed domestic gas reservation policy to require exporters to "offer" gas to the local market on commercial terms, rather than a "must-sell" mandate, pointing to Western Australia's existing model as the template. He also said Santos's Gladstone LNG project would stop contracting third-party gas for export going forward, addressing criticism that the plant has driven domestic shortfalls.

Overnight / Global

Oil above US$100 is the dominant overnight story. Brent settled at US$101.21 (later quoted as high as US$101.67), its highest since July, and WTI at US$96.05 to US$96.67, both roughly four-month highs, as the US-Iran conflict showed no signs of easing.

Treasury's tripled buyback backfired. The US Treasury said it would buy back up to US$6 billion of longer-dated debt, triple the normal level but below the roughly US$7-8 billion some in the market had expected, and yields rose rather than fell. A prominent hedge fund manager warned in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that once markets believe the Treasury is defending a yield level, every subsequent rise becomes a test of resolve, and that such efforts against fundamentals ultimately fail.

Trump says energy prices won't fall until after the midterms. President Trump told reporters that elevated oil and gas prices tied to the Iran war will not come down until after November's midterm elections, though he predicted a sharp decline afterward.

IAEA refers Iran to the UN Security Council for the first time in 20 years. The agency's board passed a resolution over Iran's breach of non-proliferation obligations, after Iran failed to allow inspectors back into nuclear sites bombed by Israel and the US or account for its enriched-uranium stockpile.

Thursday's calendar is packed. The ECB's rate decision, US Producer Price Index data, and weekly jobless claims are all due, ahead of Friday's US CPI print.

Management & Fed / RBA Speak

Kevin Gallagher, CEO, Santos (ASX:STO), on investor fears over an export tax:

Speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra Wednesday, Gallagher said investors remain concerned that a proposed 25% levy on LNG exports, pushed earlier this year by the ACTU, independent senator David Pocock and the Greens amid the global energy crisis, has not gone away, even after the federal government ruled it out in favour of a 20% domestic reservation. Asked whether investors worried the proposal could resurface once the current fuel crisis eases, he said: "I'd be misleading you if I said investors don't ask about it. So, I guess that means they're concerned about it... do I think it's gone away? No, I don't. I think the debate will be with us for a while." He said he agreed with Foreign Minister Penny Wong that there were "many ways" Australians benefited from the natural resource sector.

Anthony Miller, CEO, Westpac (ASX:WBC), on the housing outlook:

Speaking to the AFR, Miller said Australia's chronic housing shortage means prices will start rising again next year despite the current downturn, which Westpac expects to bottom out at a 7% decline. "We are, at this point, forecasting that house prices will rise 3 per cent in 2027 and 8 per cent in 2028, because what cannot be ignored is that the demand is very much larger than the supply side," he said. He said he understood the government's tax changes were intended to level the playing field for first-home buyers but questioned whether the impact would be material, arguing Labor's focus should be on directly subsidising building materials and infrastructure like roads, water and sewerage rather than buyer-side schemes such as the First Home Guarantee.

Corporate Actions & Earnings Calendar

Economic Calendar (Thursday, AEST):

Ex-Dividend Today (Thursday, 10 September 2026):

Closing Line

That's the pre-market wrap for today. The ASX opens under real pressure: a third straight losing session on Wall Street, oil above US$100 for the first time since the war began, global bond yields pushing to multi-year highs, and SPI 200 futures already down nearly 1% before the open. Locally, Wednesday's banks-versus-miners split looks set to run again, with Energy and Materials the likely relative outperformers. Thursday's ECB decision and US PPI print are the next catalysts, ahead of Friday's CPI and the RBA's own 29 September call.