ASX today, ASX futures up 0.4%, NEXTDC cuts guidance

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Samso Market Update | Wednesday, 21 October 2026 | Pre-market 9:45am AEDT

Futures point to a higher open on the ASX today. ASX 200 futures were up 0.4% at 8,866 points at about 8:20am 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 0.4% rise is measured on the futures contract, not against Tuesday's index close. The ABC linked the expected rise to "a mostly positive finish for US stocks, with the Dow gaining 1%". The Australian dollar was buying approximately 70.1 US cents at 8:45am AEDT (Yahoo Finance data).

The S&P/ASX 200 closed on Tuesday at 8,816.9, down 28.8 points or 0.33%. The All Ordinaries, which tracks the 500 largest listed companies, fell 0.35% to 8,944.2. The S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries, an index of the companies ranked 101 to 300 by size, fell 0.87% to 3,150.2. Tuesday's editions are at ASX today, Tuesday 20 October 2026, and Monday's are at ASX today, Monday 19 October 2026.

ASX today: Key Highlights

ASX 200 futures were up 0.4% at 8,866 at about 8:20am AEDT (ABC News).
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.02% on Tuesday and the S&P 500 rose 0.28%. The Nasdaq Composite was down 0.02%.
NEXTDC told the ASX at 8:35am AEDT that it has cut its 2027 financial year guidance because of a delay to the power supply at its M3 Melbourne data centre. It had been in a trading halt since Monday.
The Nikkei 225 fell 1.30% in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Silver futures rose 2.05% and copper futures rose 1.19%. Gold futures fell 0.42%.

Wall Street overnight

Wall Street finished mostly higher on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 529.85 points or 1.02% to 52,495.88. The S&P 500 rose 21.84 points or 0.28% to 7,712.57. The Nasdaq Composite fell 6.07 points or 0.02% to 26,424.82. The Russell 2000, an index of smaller US companies, rose 1.65% to 2,773.42 (Yahoo Finance data).

Reuters, in a report published at 4:30pm New York time, said investors were rotating out of technology shares into other parts of the market, with defensive sectors such as real estate and utilities outperforming. It reported that the S&P 500 healthcare sector reached a record high, with gains in Eli Lilly, UnitedHealth, Merck, Johnson & Johnson and Amgen. Reuters said 3M rose after it expanded a data centre partnership with Amazon and raised its full-year profit forecast. General Motors fell after it warned of pressure from higher commodity costs and lower truck sales.

SpaceX and Netflix reported after the close. The ABC reported that SpaceX's third-quarter revenue rose 161% to US$14.58 billion, against an estimate of US$12.72 billion (LSEG data), and that its shares rose 2.5% in extended trading. Netflix shares were down approximately 6% in extended trading at about 5:45pm New York time (Yahoo Finance data).

The US 10-year Treasury yield was at approximately 5.12% late in the New York session, down about 2 basis points from Monday (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.

Japan and Asia

The Nikkei 225 closed on Tuesday at 64,075.42, down 841.28 points or 1.30% (Yahoo Finance data). The US dollar was buying approximately 158.14 yen at 8:46am AEDT, down from approximately 158.45 yen at the same time on Tuesday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed at 23,867.74, down 1.32% from its previous session on Friday. The Shanghai Composite rose 0.12% to 3,735.37.

London and Europe

London's FTSE 100 closed on Tuesday at 10,733.00, down 31.70 points or 0.29% (Yahoo Finance data). Germany's DAX fell 0.06% to 25,304.42. France's CAC 40 fell 0.38% to 7,838.49. The UK releases its September consumer price inflation figures at 7:00am London time today, which is 5:00pm AEDT (Office for National Statistics).

Currencies

The Australian dollar was buying approximately 70.1 US cents at 8:45am AEDT, up from approximately 69.8 cents at the same time on Tuesday (Yahoo Finance data). The US dollar index, which measures the US dollar against six major currencies, was at approximately 101.71 at 8:36am AEDT, down 0.27% from Monday's close. The euro was at approximately US$1.124 and the British pound at approximately US$1.338.

Commodities

Brent crude futures for the front-month contract, the one that falls due soonest, were at US$109.12 a barrel late in the session, down 0.4% from Monday's settlement (Yahoo Finance data). Reuters reported that Brent touched a five-month high during the day, with traders weighing Houthi attacks on Saudi infrastructure and reports of attacks on vessels in the Gulf. West Texas Intermediate, the US oil benchmark, was at US$98.18 a barrel for December delivery, down 0.4%. The November WTI contract settled at US$101.09, down 2.5%.

Gold futures for December were at US$4,142.50 an ounce, down 0.42% (Yahoo Finance data). Silver futures for December rose 2.05% to US$58.14 an ounce. Copper futures for December rose 1.19% to US$6.616 a pound.

Iron ore was at approximately US$91.15 a tonne, up 0.1%, according to the ABC News market snapshot (prices at about 8:20am AEDT).

Today's diary

All times AEDT.

8:19am. Northern Star Resources reported September quarter gold sales of 363,891 ounces at an all-in sustaining cost, the full cost of producing gold and keeping the mines running, of A$3,217 an ounce, and kept its FY27 guidance unchanged. Its conference call is at 10:30am.
8:35am. NEXTDC cut its FY27 net revenue guidance to A$475 million to A$500 million, from A$615 million to A$640 million, and its underlying EBITDA guidance to A$245 million to A$265 million, from A$385 million to A$410 million. EBITDA is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. The company said the electricity distributor Jemena has suspended parts of the network works that M3 needs, and that it now expects the next increase in grid supply during FY28. NEXTDC said it has removed the affected M3 contracts from guidance. It had A$8,675 million of liquidity at 30 September 2026.
8:36am. Telix Pharmaceuticals reported third-quarter group revenue of US$245 million, up 19% on the same quarter last year.
Before the open. The ABC reported at 8:14am that Reserve Bank deputy governor Andrew Hauser was due to speak at a fireside chat in Sydney within the hour.
9:30am. NEXTDC holds an investor briefing on the guidance revision.
11:30am. The Australian Bureau of Statistics adds updated labour force microdata to its DataLab. It has no other releases scheduled today (ABS release calendar).
5:00pm. UK consumer price inflation for September.

Samso Concluding Comments

ASX 200 futures were up 0.4% at about 8:20am AEDT. On Tuesday the Dow rose 1.02% and the S&P 500 0.28%. NEXTDC returns from its trading halt today with lower FY27 guidance, and Northern Star and Telix have also reported this morning. Reserve Bank deputy governor Andrew Hauser was due to speak in Sydney before the open, the ABC reported.

General information only. This is not financial advice.