Afternoon Report | ASX falls as unemployment rises
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Why did the ASX 200 fall and what does rising unemployment mean for Australian markets?
Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report for Thursday, the 24th of September, 2026. I'm Michael Thompson, and every afternoon we've got the five stories that happened today that you need to know about. Story number one, the SP ASX 200, fell 0.7% today to close at 8,702 points. After new figures, Figures showed Australia's unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in August, up from 4.5%. Not enough to avoid a rate hike at next week's RBA meeting. We'll take a much closer look at those figures on tomorrow morning show. Wall Street was also weaker overnight as the U.S. 10-year bond yield jumped to 5.11%, while oil climbed back above US$100 a barrel. Stocks therefore were the standout locally, Woodside, Santos, AMPOL all higher today.
The miners struggled, though. BHP was down 1.7%, Rio Tinto off 1.4%. The defensive stocks, some of them like uh CSL and Woolworths, outperformed.
How did an OpenAI‑powered agent breach Medicare data and what are the security implications?
Among individual companies, a bit going on, Premier Investments and Sol Pats both jumped more than 6% after reporting results, whereas Nine Entertainment plunged on almost eight percent following the sudden departure of its head of streaming and broadcast. On to story number two now, the federal government has launched an urgent investigation after an artificial intelligence agent developed by OpenAI gained unauthorized access to an Australian government Medicare website. The agent was being tested on a seemingly harmless research task involving health stats, but after repeatedly being blocked from protected information, it found ways around those barriers and accessed non-public files containing aggregated Medicare statistics.
No personal medical information is believed to have been accessed. But a forensic investigation involving the Australian Signals Directorate is continuing. We will take a look at this one tomorrow, including some of the political reaction, because it has become a major issue in tomorrow morning's show. Story number three: Australia's new mandatory climate reporting regime appears to be working.
What improvements are seen in Australia’s mandatory climate‑reporting regime?
With ASIC finding companies are providing better and more consistent information about climate risks. The regulator reviewed 40 sustainability reports and found a marked improvement compared with the previous voluntary system. ASIC says companies aren't just disclosing anymore, some are changing their governance and risk management processes in response, but there is still work to do, particularly around forward-looking forecasts, assumptions, strategies, and emissions targets. Mandatory climate reporting, you might remember, it began last year for Australia's largest businesses and financial institutions and will progressively cover more companies. Story number four starts with a question, actually.
What does Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Wicked Star Cynthia Arrivo, the Finnish President, and the CEO of the Formula One have in common? They all received Global Citizen Awards in New York overnight, with the Atlantic Council recognizing Albanese for his work strengthening international alliances, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. The PM used his speech to return to a theme that he has been pushing during his US visit, that the old global order is changing and that Australia needs to help shape whatever replaces it while preserving the rules that matter.
Why was Prime Minister Anthony Albanese awarded a Global Citizen Award and what does it signal for Australia’s foreign policy?
Plenty of star power in the room. I mentioned that Albanese mingled with Arivo. Also actor Keanu Reeves was there and they had a bit of a chat apparently before the ceremony. Penny Wong, Kevin Rudd also among the guests. Finally, story number five: Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Washington for a three-day visit, receiving an unusually elaborate and warm welcome from Donald Trump as the world's two biggest economies try to stabilize their relationship. Trump personally greeted Xi at Joint Base Andrews with a 30-meter red carpet, military band, and a flyover by two B-1 bombers. The talks are set to cover some. Of the biggest issues in the global economy, trade, AI, rare earth minerals, as well as Taiwan and the war in Iran.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
Why did the ASX 200 fall and what does rising unemployment mean for Australian markets?
0:03–1:02
2
How did an OpenAI‑powered agent breach Medicare data and what are the security implications?
1:02–2:10
3
What improvements are seen in Australia’s mandatory climate‑reporting regime?
2:10–3:25
4
Why was Prime Minister Anthony Albanese awarded a Global Citizen Award and what does it signal for Australia’s foreign policy?
3:25–4:15
5
How is Donald Trump’s red‑carpet welcome for Xi Jinping shaping US‑China relations?
4:15–4:27
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from FEAR & GREED | Business News
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