ASX 200 Live Today - Monday, 19th October

Welcome to our live ASX coverage for Monday, October 19. Expect a high volume of posts pre-market and more periodic updates throughout the day. We'll be wrapping the blog up around 2:00 pm AEDT. Let us know how we can make it even better.

Nasdaq posts worst week since June as chip stocks extend longest slide since 2008

[8:47 am] Wall Street fell on Friday as concerns that AI companies are borrowing too heavily to fund their infrastructure buildout weighed on chipmakers and AI cloud provider CoreWeave.

• The Nasdaq fell 2.1% taking its weekly loss to more than 4%, its worst week since June

• The S&P 500 fell 1.1% with a roughly 2% weekly drop wiping out last week’s record-setting gains

• Chipmakers fell for an eighth straight day, their longest losing streak since 2008, with AMD down 6%, Intel 5.8%, Micron 5.6% and Broadcom 4.5%

• CoreWeave fell nearly 12%, losing roughly a quarter of its value for the week as investors focused on its more than US$51 billion debt load

• Brent crude rose 3.7% to US$109.71 a barrel, with energy stocks softening the Dow’s fall to 0.3%

• December Fed hike odds rose to 77.3%, from 69.8% a week ago

Lagarde says bond sell-off will slow eurozone inflation

[8:47 am] Central bankers at the IMF meetings in Bangkok signalled further rate hikes remain likely, with the IMF backing faster tightening in Japan if inflation overshoots.

• Long-term rates have risen notably since the ECB’s September meeting, which Lagarde said will slow growth and limit how much higher fuel prices feed into broader inflation

• A December ECB hike is expected, which would lift the policy rate to 2.75% after two increases in four months

• Nagel flagged more tightening, with the Bundesbank President saying the inflation fight is not over

• The IMF said the BOJ may need to hike faster if inflation rises more than expected, after it lifted rates to a 31-year high of 1.25% in September

• Ueda ruled out tolerating an overshoot, with the BOJ Governor reaffirming plans to keep raising rates

• Fed Chair Kevin Warsh gave no fresh signals on rates at the same meetings

Trump waives Russia energy tariffs to help lower diesel prices

[8:47 am] US President Donald Trump has waived tariffs and sanctions on Russian energy required under the Graham Act, which conflicted with his push to lower record US diesel prices before the November 3 midterm elections.

• The law required 100% tariffs on all goods from the top five buyers of Russian crude and 500% tariffs on US imports of Russian energy

• The tariffs are formally imposed but suspended, so Trump could apply them later

• The deadline to impose them was October 18, 30 days after Trump signed the law

• The waiver avoids a clash with China, India and Turkey, the largest buyers of Russian energy

• Bipartisan senators have pushed back, signing a letter this week demanding Trump rescind his diesel deal with Putin and enforce the law

US industrial output rises 0.7% in September, the most in five months

[8:46 am] US factory output returned to growth in September, with semiconductor production up nearly 20% from a year earlier amid the AI investment boom.

• Manufacturing output rose 0.3% m/m, in line with ests, after a revised 0.2% fall in August

• Utility output rose 3.5%, possibly reflecting power demand during the warmest September on record

• Semiconductor production rose more than 2% m/m and nearly 20% y/y

• Motor vehicle and parts output fell 3%, the most since October 2025 and a third straight decline

• Manufacturing excluding autos rose 0.5%, the most since April

• Import prices rose 8.1% y/y, the biggest annual gain in more than four years, separate BLS data showed

Apple stores run out of iPhone Duo launch stock within minutes of preorders

[8:46 am] Shipping estimates for Apple’s US$1,999 folding phone moved into January shortly after preorders opened on Friday, pointing to strong demand and tight supply ahead of its October 23 release.

• Delays apply to both colours and all storage options from 256GB to 2TB

• Reserving in advance didn’t help some customers, who reported January delivery dates on social media

• Counterpoint Research estimates around 6 million units in sales this year

• It is one of the first major launches under CEO John Ternus, who took over in September

• A touchscreen MacBook Pro is due later this month, Bloomberg has reported

Good morning!

[8:25 am] ASX 200 futures are down 11 pts (-0.12%). Here's what happened overnight:

• Major US benchmarks finished lower and near worst levels, to cap their worst week since June, while the Dow held up better with energy and staples stocks such as Chevron (+2.5%), Coca-Cola (+2.0%) and Protect & Gamble (+1.4%) in demand

  • S&P 500 (-1.09%), Nasdaq (-2.14%), Dow (-0.34%), Russell 2000 (-1.66%)

  • Over the Week: S&P 500 (-1.95%), Nasdaq (-4.48%), Dow (+0.68%), Russell 2000 (-3.05%)

• Chipmakers fell for an eighth straight session, their longest losing streak since 2008, as investors questioned whether debt-funded AI spending will deliver adequate returns

• Brent settled near US$110 a barrel on Hormuz supply risks, and Iran claimed over the weekend that two crude tankers caught fire after hitting mines in the strait