Good morning everyone and welcome to Rise and Shine on Wednesday, August 26, 2026. Here’s what you should know before the ASX opens today…
At 7am Sydney time on Wednesday, S&P ASX 200 futures were up 0.3%, so the local market looks set for a mildly positive start.
Here’s what happened while we were asleep….
Nvidia ends slide before results reckoning
The Dow rose 0.3%, the S&P 500 added 0.3% and the Nasdaq climbed 0.7%, with tech keeping the market’s mood afloat.
| STOCK INDICES | Value | Change |
| ASX 200 | 9,165 | 1.17% |
| S&P 500 | 7,677 | 0.32% |
| Dow Jones | 53,577 | 0.30% |
| Nasdaq Comp | 26,151 | 0.66% |
| Russell 2000 | 3,010 | 0.50% |
| Euro Stoxx 50 | 6,456 | 0.12% |
| UK FTSE | 10,886 | 0.29% |
| German DAX | 26,266 | 0.61% |
| French CAC | 8,439 | -0.16% |
Nvidia rose 2%, ending a seven-day slide ahead of its result after the US close tonight.
It lands around 6am Thursday Sydney time, and the whole market will be parked in front of it like it is the season finale.
Consensus has Nvidia generating about US$92 billion of quarterly revenue, nearly double a year ago.
That’s still ridiculous growth by any normal standard, but Nvidia stopped being judged on normal standards a while back.
The question now is not whether it will beat numbers; it is whether the beat is big enough, the outlook is strong enough, and the CEO sounds sufficiently bulletproof.
OpenAI added another wrinkle, claiming its Jalapeno chip beat Nvidia’s GB300 in testing for power efficiency and speed.
It’s a credible development, especially if OpenAI can use its own silicon to cut inference costs.
But Nvidia is not about to fold up the tent because a customer had a decent benchmark result.
Making a chip work in testing is one thing; producing enough of them, with proper software and dependable supply, is where the easy slide deck ends and the real work begins.
Elsewhere, SpaceX is planning a US$100 billion Starship facility in Louisiana.
Apple, meanwhile, is reportedly preparing a new Mac mini as demand for local AI computing grows.
Oil fell hard as Hormuz nerves settled down
Brent crude got belted about 6%, slipping below US$87 a barrel, after Iran and Oman discussed an interim plan to get shipping moving again through the Strait of Hormuz.
Reports the US could send diplomats back into Middle East embassies also hinted Washington isn’t expecting the whole thing to go pear-shaped.
Oil traders, who had been pricing in every possible nightmare scenario, promptly started taking a bit of fear premium back out.
Still, one dodgy headline from the region and crude could be off to the races again.
What’s on today?
Wednesday is absolutely stacked locally, with Woolworths, WiseTech, Domino’s, Lovisa, Nine, Netwealth, Sandfire, Tabcorp, Worley, Paladin and Cettire all wheeling out the numbers.
It’s a decent cross-section of the ASX: supermarkets, tech, jewellery, copper, uranium, fashion and whatever Cettire is doing this week.
The macro main event lands at 11.30am AEST: July CPI and Q2 construction work done.
NAB reckons headline inflation will ease to 3.3% year-on-year from 3.8%, with energy rebates doing enough heavy lifting to offset a 6% jump in July petrol prices.
Commodity/forex/crypto market prices
| Price (US) | Move | |
| Gold / ounce | $4,658.79 | 0.15% |
| Silver / ounce | $68.62 | -0.46% |
| Iron ore / tonne | $95.40 | 0.06% |
| Nickel / tonne | $17,050 | 0.21% |
| Copper / tonne | $13,413 | 1.63% |
| Zinc / tonne | $3,887 | 1.53% |
| Lithium carbonate 99.5% Min China Spot / tonne | $23,299 | -2.18% |
| Uranium / pound | $89.55 | 0.79% |
| Oil (WTI) / barrel | $81.12 | -4.58% |
| Oil (Brent) / barrel | $86.98 | -5.63% |
| AUD/USD | $0.7163 | 0.14% |
| Bitcoin | $78,172 | -0.94% |
What got you talking
Also in the news…
These experienced campaigners are chasing NSW’s next big gold discovery for Xpedra Resources (ASX:XPD).
Health Check: Nanosonics (ASX:NAN) investors voice their Coris of disapproval ahead of launch.
Prescription for growth: The ASX healthcare stocks working to win over doctors.
Resources Top 5: Gold, uranium and a monster $150m raise.
Trading Halts
Broken Hill Gold (ASX:BH6) – material exploration results from White Dam
Estrella Resources (ASX:ESR) – ASX price query response and exploration update
Mount Ridley Mines (ASX:MRD) – material scandium resource update
At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Xpedra Resources is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
