ASX today, ASX futures lower, US midterm count ahead
Updated: 12 minutes ago
Samso Market Update | Wednesday, 4 November 2026 | Pre-market 9:45am AEDT
On the ASX today, S&P/ASX 200 futures pointed to a modestly lower open, the ABC reported at 6:58am AEDT. Its blog still said so at its 8:39am AEDT update, and it gave no figure. SPI futures, also called ASX 200 futures or ASX futures, are contracts on the ASX 200 that settle against the index on a set later date. The Australian dollar was buying 69.67 US cents at 8:15am AEDT (Yahoo Finance data). Chip shares rose in New York, copper fell 2.50%, and the first US midterm election polls close at 10:00am AEDT, when the ASX opens.
The S&P/ASX 200 closed on Tuesday at 8,886.8, up 30.3 points or 0.34%. The All Ordinaries, which tracks the 500 largest listed companies, rose 0.35% to 9,008.9. The S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries, an index of the companies ranked 101 to 300 by size, rose 0.32% to 3,151.8 (Yahoo Finance data).
ASX today: Key Highlights
ASX 200 futures pointed to a modestly lower open, the ABC reported at 6:58am AEDT.
The S&P 500 rose 0.36% and the Nasdaq Composite 0.83%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.38% (Yahoo Finance data).
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 2.63%. AMD closed up 3.65% and, in after-hours trading on the day it reported, was at US$524.00 at 4:34pm New York time, 8.29% above that close.
December copper futures in New York were 2.50% below Monday's close at US$6.403 a pound.
The Australian dollar was at 69.67 US cents, against 69.82 US cents at Tuesday's market close edition.
The first US midterm polls close at 10:00am AEDT, and the Reserve Bank's Chart Pack and three Australian Bureau of Statistics releases are due at 11:30am AEDT.
Wall Street overnight
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.38% on Tuesday to 51,786.72. The S&P 500 rose 0.36% to 7,568.92 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.83% to 25,372.01. The Russell 2000, an index of smaller US companies, rose 0.24% to 2,812.48 (Yahoo Finance data). The ABC, reporting with Reuters, said the Nasdaq rallied as AI heavyweights rebounded. Most S&P 500 companies were lower at 2:00pm New York time even with the index up, Bloomberg reported.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which tracks chip makers' shares listed in the US, rose 2.63%. It finished Monday about 22% below its 6 October high, Yahoo Finance said. Nvidia rose 2.29% to US$206.69 and Micron Technology 2.58% to US$855.10. Microsoft rose 2.74%, Meta Platforms 2.36% and Amazon 2.06% (Yahoo Finance data).
Apple fell 1.90% to US$331.90. The ABC said iPad sales in Apple's fiscal fourth quarter missed estimates. BHP's US-listed shares fell 2.42%, in US dollars. Palantir Technologies fell 1.65% to US$175.40, and Shopify fell 8.74% to US$142.57. Before the open, Yahoo Finance said Shopify's third-quarter results missed estimates on several metrics.
AMD closed up 3.65% at US$483.90. After the close it said third-quarter revenue grew 45% to a record US$13.4 billion, with Data Center revenue up 97% to US$8.5 billion. It expects fourth-quarter revenue of approximately US$17 billion, plus or minus 3%. In after-hours trading its shares were at US$524.00 at 4:34pm New York time, 8.29% above the close (Yahoo Finance data).
US job openings were 7.5 million in September, Yahoo Finance reported from the JOLTS report, the US Labor Department's monthly count of unfilled jobs. The October payrolls report is due on Friday.
The US 10-year Treasury yield was 4.952% at 2:59pm New York time on Tuesday, up 5.8 basis points from 4.894% on Monday (Yahoo Finance data). A Treasury is US government debt. The yield is the yearly return from buying that debt at today's price and holding it until it is repaid, and a basis point is one hundredth of a percentage point. When yields rise, bond prices fall.
Japan and Asia
The Nikkei 225 last closed on Monday at 63,081.86, down 0.33% from Friday (Yahoo Finance data). Tokyo was closed on Tuesday for Culture Day and is due back today. The US dollar was buying 158.73 yen at 8:16am AEDT, 0.67% above Monday's close. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.57% to 23,525.97 on Tuesday, and the Shanghai Composite fell 0.82% to 3,608.10 (Yahoo Finance data).
London and Europe
London's FTSE 100 fell 1.14% on Tuesday to 10,638.43, ending four sessions of gains. Reuters said miners and banks weighed on it, with the FTSE 350 basic resources index, which includes London-listed miners, down 2.6%. Germany's DAX fell 0.45% to 25,864.62 and France's CAC 40 fell 0.34% to 8,020.31 (Yahoo Finance data). Markets expect a 0.25 percentage point rise from the Bank of England on Thursday, Reuters said.
Currencies
The Australian dollar was at 69.67 US cents at 8:15am AEDT, against 69.82 US cents at 4:33pm AEDT on Tuesday (Yahoo Finance data). The Australian dollar was buying 110.55 yen at 8:16am AEDT. The US dollar index, which measures the US dollar against a basket of six major currencies, was at 101.87 at 8:06am AEDT. The ABC said the Australian dollar was weighed down by the Reserve Bank's split decision on Tuesday to raise the cash rate. CBA, in a foreign exchange note carried by the ABC, said its economists expect that fifth rate rise of 2026 to be the last of the cycle, with risks skewed to further rises next year. It expects two, and possibly three, US Federal Reserve rate rises by March 2027, which would narrow Australia's interest rate advantage over the US.
Commodities
January Brent crude futures, the international oil benchmark, were at US$104.40 a barrel at 8:05am AEDT, 0.35% below Monday's settlement of US$104.77. December West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the US benchmark, were at US$96.73, 0.28% above Monday's settlement of US$96.46 (Yahoo Finance data). Both are prices in trade after Tuesday's settlement, so they are not Tuesday's settled move. Earlier, Brent traded up towards US$107, fell below US$101 and retraced to around US$103.7, National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB) said in a note carried by the ABC, and it described the moves as headline volatility. The note also carried a Wall Street Journal report of a US attack on Iran's Qeshm Island. It said optimism on signs of diplomacy drove the sell-off, which was pared after Iran said the US response to its demands was not satisfactory.
December gold futures were at US$3,931.70 an ounce at 8:06am AEDT, 0.95% below Monday's settlement of US$3,969.60. December silver futures were at US$49.69 an ounce, 2.35% lower. December copper futures in New York were at US$6.403 a pound, 2.50% below Monday's settlement of US$6.5675 (Yahoo Finance data). Reuters said copper hit a multi-week low.
Iron ore was at US$91.03 a tonne on Tuesday, down 0.24%, Trading Economics reported.
Today's diary
All times AEDT.
8:23am. Goodman Group (ASX: GMG) released its first-quarter operational update. It said it is targeting FY27 operating earnings per security growth of 9%, with a distribution target of 30.0 cents a security, and that data centres are 79% of its A$19.7 billion of work in progress.
8:23am. Telix Pharmaceuticals (ASX: TLX) lodged its Capital Markets Day presentation for Melbourne today. It carries 2026 revenue guidance of US$950 million to US$970 million, reaffirmed on 21 October.
10:00am. The first US midterm polls close, in most of Indiana and Kentucky, the ABC's guide says. More states report from 11:00am and midday, California's polls close at 3:00pm and the last polling place closes at 5:00pm. The ABC said it took days to confirm control of Congress in 2022.
11:30am. The Australian Bureau of Statistics' Monthly Household Spending Indicator for September, Selected Living Cost Indexes for September and Job Vacancies for August.
11:30am. The Reserve Bank's Chart Pack of graphs on the economy and financial markets.
Thursday, 12:15am and 2:00am. US ADP private payrolls and the Institute for Supply Management's services index are listed, with dates still to be confirmed by the publisher, Finance Calendar says.
Thursday. National Australia Bank is scheduled to report its full-year result. Australian trade figures are due at 11:30am, Reserve Bank deputy governor Andrew Hauser speaks at 5:45pm and the Bank of England decides at 11:00pm.
Samso Concluding Comments
The Nasdaq's rise on Tuesday came with a rebound in AI heavyweights, the ABC reported with Reuters, and miners and banks weighed on London's FTSE 100, Reuters said. Samso will watch how ASX miners open with the copper price lower, how ASX technology shares open with US chip shares higher, and how the market trades through the midterm count. The household spending figures at 11:30am AEDT cover September, before Tuesday's rate rise.
Tuesday's editions are at ASX today, Tuesday 3 November 2026, and Monday's are at ASX today, Monday 2 November 2026.
General information only. This is not financial advice.
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