ASX today, ASX futures down 0.9%, Nasdaq up 1.1%

Samso Market Update | Tuesday, 20 October 2026 | Pre-market 9:45am AEDT

Futures point to a lower open on the ASX today. ASX 200 futures were down 0.9% at 8,783 points at about 7:15am AEDT, according to the ABC News market snapshot. A futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell at a set price on a later date, and its price is used as a guide to where the index will open. The 0.9% fall is measured on the futures contract, not against Monday's index close. The ABC did not give a reason for the fall.

The S&P/ASX 200 closed on Monday at 8,845.7, up 39.0 points or 0.44%. The All Ordinaries, which tracks the 500 largest listed companies, rose 0.39% to 8,975.7. The S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries, an index of the companies ranked 101 to 300 by size, fell 0.35% to 3,177.9. Monday's editions are at ASX today, Monday 19 October 2026, and Friday's are at ASX today, Friday 16 October 2026.

ASX today: Key Highlights

• ASX 200 futures were down 0.9% at 8,783 at about 7:15am AEDT (ABC News).

• The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.11% and the S&P 500 rose 0.41% on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.07%.

• London's FTSE 100 fell 1.08%, Germany's DAX 1.18% and France's CAC 40 1.11%.

• National Australia Bank told the ASX at 8:30am AEDT that it expects to cut up to 2,500 roles, about 6% of its internal workforce, in its 2027 financial year.

• NEXTDC remains in a trading halt while it assesses the impact of a delay to the power supply at its M3 Melbourne data centre.

Wall Street overnight

Wall Street finished mixed on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 36.38 points or 0.07% to 51,966.03. The S&P 500 rose 31.29 points or 0.41% to 7,690.73. The Nasdaq Composite rose 290.86 points or 1.11% to 26,430.89. The Russell 2000, an index of smaller US companies, rose 0.25% to 2,728.30.

TheStreet reported at the close that "Stocks rose today as the tech sector rebounded after last week's selloff." It named Amazon (up 4.95%), Palantir (up 4.36%) and Tesla (up 3.74%) among the gainers. The Associated Press reported at 1:58pm New York time that CoreWeave, which rents out computing power for AI, was up 2.8% after falling 25.2% last week. It also reported that Cleveland-Cliffs jumped 15.8% after a bigger quarterly profit than analysts expected.

The US 10-year Treasury yield was at approximately 5.14% in the afternoon New York session, up about 4 basis points from Friday (Yahoo Finance data). A Treasury is a US government bond. A bond yield is the yearly return from buying a government bond at today's price and holding it until it is repaid, and when yields rise, bond prices fall. A basis point is one hundredth of a percentage point. The AP noted the 10-year yield topped 5.30% earlier this month, its highest since 2002.

Japan and Asia

The Nikkei 225 closed on Monday at 64,916.70, down 407.59 points or 0.62% (Yahoo Finance data). The US dollar was buying approximately 158.45 yen at 8:47am AEDT, up from approximately 157.97 yen at the same time on Monday. South Korea's Kospi rose 1.8%, according to the AP, after a 14.5% fall last week. The Shanghai Composite rose 0.39% to 3,730.92.

London and Europe

London's FTSE 100 closed on Monday at 10,764.69, down 117.21 points or 1.08% (Yahoo Finance data). Germany's DAX fell 1.18% to 25,319.77. France's CAC 40 fell 1.11% to 7,868.05. The AP reported that weekend protests in France turned violent, and that the unrest could push governments to spend more, adding pressure to their bond markets. It reported that French bond yields rose much more than German yields.

Currencies

The Australian dollar was buying approximately 69.8 US cents at 8:46am AEDT, up from approximately 69.6 cents at the same time on Monday (Yahoo Finance data). The US dollar index, which measures the US dollar against six major currencies, was at approximately 101.99 at 8:37am AEDT, up 0.15% from Friday's close. The euro was at approximately US$1.12.

Commodities

Brent crude futures for December, the front-month contract (the one that falls due soonest), were at US$109.21 a barrel late in the session, down 0.6% from Friday's settlement (Yahoo Finance data). West Texas Intermediate, the US oil benchmark, was at approximately US$103.15 a barrel for November delivery, up about 1.7%. TheStreet, writing at the close, linked a rise of more than 2% in US oil to news of recent Houthi attacks.

Gold futures for December were at US$4,160.30 an ounce, down 0.50% (Yahoo Finance data). Silver futures for December rose 0.41% to US$57.23 an ounce. Copper futures for December rose 0.81% to US$6.584 a pound.

Iron ore was at approximately US$90.90 a tonne, according to the ABC News market snapshot (prices at about 7:15am AEDT).

Today's diary

All times AEDT.

• 8:30am. National Australia Bank announced its job cuts and an expected restructuring charge of approximately $300 million before tax in its 2027 financial year. NAB said further detail on its cost outlook will come with its full-year result on 5 November 2026.

• NEXTDC's trading halt runs until it makes an announcement or until the start of trading on Wednesday 21 October, whichever is earlier. In its halt request NEXTDC said it is assessing the impact of the M3 power delay, including on its FY27 guidance, and that its board had not yet met to consider it.

• No Australian Bureau of Statistics releases are scheduled today (ABS release calendar).

• About 12:00pm. China's central bank sets its loan prime rates, the benchmark lending rates for Chinese banks (financecalendar.com, 9:00am Beijing time).

Samso Concluding Comments

ASX 200 futures were down 0.9% at about 7:15am AEDT, with the Nasdaq up 1.11% and London, Frankfurt and Paris each down more than 1% on Monday. NAB's job cuts and NEXTDC's trading halt are the main company items before the open. China's loan prime rate decision at about midday is the main scheduled item.

General information only. This is not financial advice.