ASX today, Westpac profit $6.8bn, ASX futures flat

1 minute ago

6 min read

Samso Market Update | Monday, 2 November 2026 | Pre-market 9:45am AEDT

On the ASX today, S&P/ASX 200 futures were flat at 8,914 points, the ABC reported, with prices current at approximately 7:00am AEDT. SPI futures, also called ASX 200 futures, are contracts on the ASX 200 that settle against the index on a set later date. They do not trade over the weekend, so this morning's figure is where Friday night's session ended, at approximately the time Wall Street closed. The Motley Fool, in a report published at 7:29am AEDT, said the ASX 200 was expected to open 4 points lower. The Australian dollar was buying 70.29 US cents at 7:45am AEDT (Yahoo Finance data). On Friday in New York, the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.86% and Intel fell 28.58%.

The S&P/ASX 200 closed on Friday at 8,908.1, up 16.3 points or 0.18%. The All Ordinaries, which tracks the 500 largest listed companies, rose 0.14% to 9,025.4. The S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries, an index of the companies ranked 101 to 300 by size, fell 0.74% to 3,147.9 (Yahoo Finance data).

ASX today: Key Highlights

ASX 200 futures were flat at 8,914 points at approximately 7:00am AEDT, the ABC reported.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.86%, the S&P 500 1.82% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 1.09% on Friday (Yahoo Finance data). Reuters linked the fall to results from Intel and Amazon and to worries about spending on AI.
December gold futures were 3.29% below Thursday's settlement late on Friday, at US$3,898.90 an ounce (Yahoo Finance data). Kitco News reported spot silver down 6.06%.
January Brent crude futures were 2.37% above Thursday's settlement late on Friday, at US$113.43 a barrel (Yahoo Finance data).
Westpac (ASX: WBC) reported a statutory net profit of $6.8 billion for the year to 30 September, down 1%. Net profit excluding Notable Items was $6.99 billion, broadly unchanged, Westpac said (ASX release, 7:30am AEDT).
The Reserve Bank's rate decision is due tomorrow after 2:30pm AEDT (RBA).

Wall Street overnight

The S&P 500 fell 1.82% on Friday to 7,580.07, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.09% to 51,770.31. The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.86% to 25,437.00. The Russell 2000, an index of smaller US companies, fell 1.66% to 2,811.84 (Yahoo Finance data). Reuters, in a report carried by Yahoo Finance, said the fall followed "disappointing quarterly results from Intel and Amazon, which amplified growing worries surrounding AI-related companies' massive spending on the nascent technology." Reuters said the Nasdaq closed 7.8% below its record close of 6 October.

Intel closed at US$65.76, down 28.58% from US$92.07 on Thursday (Yahoo Finance data). Reuters said Intel released its results late on Thursday. Amazon closed down 1.41% at US$240.35, and Reuters said its shares pared their losses as the session went on. Other chip makers also fell. Nvidia closed down 4.22% and AMD 10.88%, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which tracks chip makers' shares listed in the US, fell 7.20% (Yahoo Finance data).

Shares in Coinbase, a US crypto exchange, closed down 10.62% (Yahoo Finance data). Reuters said crypto-linked shares fell after reports that hackers had stolen US$6.3 billion from Binance, which the ABC described as the world's biggest crypto exchange. Exxon Mobil, the oil producer, closed up 2.16%.

The US 10-year Treasury yield was 4.929% at 2:59pm New York time on Friday, down 6.0 basis points from 4.989% on Thursday (Yahoo Finance data). A basis point is one hundredth of a percentage point. The yield is the yearly return from buying US government debt at today's price and holding it until it is repaid. When yields fall, bond prices rise, so the price of 10-year US government bonds rose on Friday.

Japan and Asia

The Nikkei 225 closed on Friday at 63,290.11, down 2.12% from 64,659.47 on Thursday (Yahoo Finance data). The Bank of Japan kept its short-term policy rate at 1.25%, Tradingpedia reported on Friday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.46% to 23,294.42, and the Shanghai Composite fell 1.44% to 3,599.02 (Yahoo Finance data). The US dollar was buying 157.52 yen at 4:59pm New York time on Friday. Tokyo fell further than Shanghai, while Hong Kong rose.

London and Europe

London's FTSE 100 closed on Friday at 10,729.78, up 0.07% (Yahoo Finance data). Germany's DAX fell 0.85% to 25,818.21, and France's CAC 40 closed at 7,969.42, down 0.01%. European markets moved much less than Wall Street on Friday.

Currencies

The Australian dollar was at 70.29 US cents at 7:45am AEDT, against 70.27 US cents at Friday's close and 70.58 US cents at Thursday's close (Yahoo Finance data). Against the yen, it was buying 110.37 yen at 7:46am AEDT, down from 110.88 yen on Friday. The US dollar index, which measures the US dollar against a basket of six major currencies, was at 101.96 at 4:59pm New York time on Friday. The Australian dollar has eased against the US dollar since Thursday.

Commodities

December gold futures were at US$3,898.90 an ounce late on Friday, 3.29% below Thursday's settlement of US$4,031.40 (Yahoo Finance data). Spot gold was at approximately US$3,879.90 an ounce late in US trading, down 3.52%, and spot silver was at approximately US$49.02 an ounce, down 6.06%, Kitco News reported. Kitco said a "technology-led equity market selloff intensified liquidation pressure across precious metals". The Motley Fool said the gold price hit a one-year low amid increased bets on rate rises. December copper futures in New York were at US$6.482 a pound late on Friday, 1.82% below Thursday's settlement (Yahoo Finance data).

January Brent crude futures, the international oil benchmark, were at US$113.43 a barrel late on Friday, 2.37% above Thursday's settlement. December West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the US benchmark, were at US$104.12, up 2.08% (Yahoo Finance data). The Motley Fool said prices were driven higher by concerns about supply disruptions in the Middle East, including an attack on a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, the shipping channel at the mouth of the Persian Gulf.

Iron ore fell 0.7% to US$90.80 a tonne on Friday, the ABC reported. Of the commodities ASX resources companies produce, oil was the only one here that rose on Friday.

Today's diary

All times AEDT.

7:30am. Westpac (ASX: WBC) reported a statutory net profit of $6.8 billion for the year to 30 September 2026, down 1% on the previous year. Net profit excluding Notable Items was $6.99 billion, which Westpac described as broadly unchanged. Notable Items are items Westpac leaves out to show its underlying performance. The final dividend is 77 cents a share, fully franked, and the common equity tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio was 12.5%. CET1 is a bank's highest-quality capital, mainly ordinary shareholders' equity, measured as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Before the release, the ABC said analysts' consensus forecast was a cash profit of $6.96 billion. Westpac's release does not give a cash profit figure. Its nearest measure is net profit excluding Notable Items.
7:35am. KMD Brands (ASX: KMD) said it had entered into an exclusivity agreement with Bluestar Alliance, a US-based consumer brand group, to allow due diligence on a possible acquisition of all of KMD's shares. KMD said there was no certainty that a binding proposal would follow.
11:30am. The Australian Bureau of Statistics releases Building Approvals for September 2026 (ABS release calendar).
Cotality's national Home Value Index fell 1.2% in October, Cotality research director Tim Lawless wrote in a report published on Monday. He wrote that Brisbane fell 2.0%, Perth 1.7% and Sydney 1.6%.
Tomorrow, Tuesday 3 November, after 2:30pm. The Reserve Bank's rate decision (RBA statistical release calendar). The cash rate target is 4.60%, after a rise on 30 September (RBA). CommBank economists said on 28 October that they expected a rise of 0.25 percentage points to 4.85%.
US clocks went back an hour on Sunday. From tomorrow morning, the New York close falls at 8:00am AEDT, an hour later than last week.

Samso Concluding Comments

Reuters linked Friday's fall on Wall Street to results from Intel and Amazon and to worries about how much AI companies are spending. Kitco linked the fall in gold and silver to liquidation pressure, which it said the technology-led share market selloff had intensified, and The Motley Fool linked the rise in oil to concerns about Middle East supply. Samso will watch how ASX technology shares, gold miners and energy shares open, and how Westpac's shares trade on the day of its full year result. Samso will also watch bank and property shares ahead of tomorrow's Reserve Bank decision.

Friday's editions are at ASX today, Friday 30 October 2026, and Thursday's are at ASX today, Thursday 29 October 2026.

General information only. This is not financial advice.