Afternoon Report | ASX edges higher
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Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report for Wednesday, the 23rd of September 2026. I'm Michael Thompson, and every afternoon we've got five stories that happened today that you need to know about. Story number one: the SP ASX 200 edged slightly higher today, up just 7.5 points, or less than 0.1%. To 8,765 points. Materials really were the standout sector. BHP was up nearly 1.5%. Rio Tinto was also higher as copper prices pushed towards record levels. Also helping sentiment though today, lower oil prices. Amid hopes that Iran could reopen the Strait of Hamoz if the United States eases military pressure. That is despite though the threats. Of annihilation of Iran from US President Donald Trump at the UN overnight.
More on that one a little bit later. The lower oil price weighed on local energy stocks, as it often does, while all four big banks finished lower today. Among individual companies, a few interesting stories. IDP education plunged 13% after ejecting a takeover bid from Blackstone as being too low. Sank 23% despite a big rise in profit, and IAG fell after the competition regulator rejected its proposed takeover of RAC insurance. On to story number two now, one from politics. One Nation MP, the deputy leader, Barnaby Joyce, says he unknowingly met prominent neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell and other far-right figures at Canberra Casino. Insisting there was no organized meeting. Joyce says the group approached him while he was having a drink with a friend and that he became concerned when the conversation turned to race and immigration.
He says he then ended the conversation and moved away. It comes as One Nation leader, Pauline Hansen, has attacked Nine News over an interview with a US Ku Klux Klan leader who praised aspects of her immigration policy. Policy. Hansen says any suggestion that One Nation shares the KKK's ideology is offensive and has accused Nine of trying to link the party with the white supremacist group. Story number three: Commonwealth Bank is warning that the rise of AI-powered shopping agents could fundamentally change the relationship between banks and their customers. The Financial Review is reporting that Commonwealth Bank is among a group of major global banks calling for new rules covering AI agents that can choose products, make payments, potentially carry out transactions without customers ever opening their banking app.
The banks are worried about fraud. They're worried about privacy and conflicts of interest, and crucially, who is responsible if and when something goes wrong? One CBA executive described the development as a complete revolution, comparing it with the move to electronic payments decades ago. The risk essentially for banks here is that if an AI assistant becomes a place where customers shop, uh compare financial products, make all their payments the bank itself could increasingly disappear into the background. Story number four today, Qantas has announced it will launch nonstop flights from Sydney to New York. From the middle of 2028. Cutting more than three hours from the current journey, the route uh will be the second under Qantas' Project Sunrise program following the direct Sydney to London flight starting in October next year.
The tickets for New York will go on sale in August of 2027. It feels like we have been talking about this for a very long time now, but it has been officially announced today. The flights will use specially. modified Airbus A350-1000 aircraft. They'll carry 238 passengers across four cabins. There'll be a wellness zone where economy and premium economy passengers can get up and stretch their legs. Qantas currently flies to New York via Auckland. Finally, story number five, US President Donald Trump has told world leaders, I mentioned this earlier, that he is weighing up whether to annihilate Iran, while also then predicting that the two countries could reach a peace deal after November's US midterm elections.
In his speech to the United Nations overnight, Trump defended the nearly seven month long war with Iran, but said that a negotiated settlement did remain possible.
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