AM 15 Sep 26: AI stocks send US share markets lower
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Alysna production. US shares fall, led lower by AI firms, oil prices rise while most other commodities drop, and the ASX expected to open slightly lower. Hello good morning, I'm James Gruber. It's Tuesday the 15th of September and this is the morning edition of the Comsec Market Update. Well, the big talking point in markets over the past 48 hours has been the call from anthropic CEO Dario Armadei for AI firms to slow development of the powerful technology amid mounting worries over risks of superintelligent computer systems. OpenAI boss Sam Altman and Elon Musk, who owns XAI, both agreed with Armadei's assessment.
Why are AI stocks pulling US markets lower today?
The mystery is that neither Amadei nor his competitors could explain what prompted their suggestions for a slowdown. That's led to all kinds of theories, from the AI companies wanting regulatory action to shut out Chinese competitors, to the firms being worried about energy and mineral supplies to fuel the boom. It's especially intriguing given Anthropic's plans to IPO on the stock market soon. Anyhow, the debate around an AI slowdown didn't help US share markets overnight, which were led lower by AI-related stocks. Let's now take a deeper look at what's happened with Aussie futures, commodities, and currencies. The ASX is poised to open slightly weaker, with index futures down 0.2% shortly after 6am.
Speaking of the ASX 200, yesterday it closed up 0.1% at 8,749. Gains in banks and energy stocks offset losses in miners, while investors remained cautious amid soaring oil prices, rising bond yields, and escalating tensions in the Middle East. Today, energy stocks may have another positive day, while miners could struggle given further declines in metal prices overnight. On those commodity markets, global oil prices jumped over 4% before pulling back after new strikes on Saudi Arabian energy infrastructure and attacks on ships in the Middle East compounded energy supply concerns. Brent crude futures settled 1% higher at $105.68 US dollars a barrel. Base metal prices were mixed, copper futures declined 2.2%, sinking to three-week lows, as inventories at the London Metal Exchange rose and the US dollar firmed.
Meanwhile, aluminium futures ended flat. Gulf futures fell to over one-month lows, as a rally in oil prices and stronger than expected inflation data on Friday bolstered expectations of a rate hike at the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting this week. The futures settled 1.35% lower at $4,352 an ounce. Iron ore futures fell to a three-week low as steel mill profitability slumped to a record low, dampening demand prospects for the steelmaking ingredient. The futures settled down 0.5% at $97.55 a ton. Let's now take a look at currencies. They were lower against the US dollar.
What did Anthropic’s CEO and other AI leaders say about slowing AI development?
The Euro dipped 0.5% to $1.1555. The Japanese yen slipped 0.5% to 154.40 yen. And the Aussie dollar lost 0.4% to 71.38 US cents. Turning to Wall Street now, the Dow Jones Index finished down 0.3%, the S ⁇ P 500 dropped 0.5%, and the Nasdaq lost 0.6%. A closer look at the trading day there. US share markets dipped, weighed down by losses in Nvidia and other chipmakers, after top executives in US AI firms raised safety concerns and called for a slowdown in the development of AI. Investors were also jittery after the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield briefly surpassed 5% for the first time since 2023, ahead of This week's Federal Reserve meeting, the US Central Bank is widely expected to raise interest rates.
Shares of Nvidia declined 3.4%, while Brocom, Micron, and AMD each fell between 4 and 5.4%. The Philadelphia Chip Index tumbled almost 6%, reducing its 2026 gain to 58%. Bank stocks also fell after Bank of America said its trading revenue would be relatively flat compared with last year's third quarter. Bank of America's shares declined as much as 5.7%, its biggest intraday decline since April last year. Other banks sold off too, including Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley, which fell between 1.9 and 3.6%. However, software stocks rebounded after sharp recent sell-offs from worries over competition with AI.
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