ASX 200 Live Today - Wednesday, 23rd September

Welcome to our live ASX coverage for Wednesday, September 23. 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 AEST. Let us know how we can make it even better.

Iran dangles Hormuz reopening as Trump pushes deal past midterms

[8:39 am] Oil slipped on signs of improving Middle East crude flows, though Trump's comment that a peace deal would only come after the November midterms pared the early losses.

• Brent fell 1.5% to US$98.54, now down 9.1% in the last five sessions, with the retracement coming once Trump said a deal would not land until after the US midterms in early November

• A senior Iranian official told Reuters Tehran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if Washington eases military pressure and lifts its blockade of Iranian ports, with the delegation in New York said to have full authority to revive diplomacy

• Saudi Arabia has restarted its East-West pipeline and could resume Yanbu exports, with Phil Flynn of Price Futures Group noting Aramco loaded roughly 14 million barrels onto seven VLCCs inside the Gulf and Saudi crude through Hormuz has averaged about 2.9 million barrels a day over the past six days, up from around 700,000 in August

• Trump said he has pushed advisers to approve a US diesel export ban with the national average pump price at a record $6.52 a gallon, up 77% year-on-year, though GasBuddy's Patrick De Haan argues US diesel prices are set by a global balance and cannot be fenced off by executive order

Nasdaq 100 notches first record since June as oil slides

[8:36 am] A renewed chip rally and hopes for a Middle East ceasefire pushed the tech-heavy index to a fresh high, though the broader market stayed flat.

• The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.8% to its first record close since June, while the S&P 500 was little changed and the Dow fell 0.4%

• A closely watched semiconductor gauge including Micron and Nvidia climbed for a sixth straight session, with the industry advance offsetting a selloff in bank shares

• Fed speakers struck a cautious tone, with Richmond's Tom Barkin warning inflationary shocks could take time to wane and Boston's Susan Collins backing last week's decision to raise rates

• The 10-year Treasury yield was little changed at 4.96%

• Bloomberg's Michael Ball says leadership has rotated decisively back to semiconductors and hyperscalers, enough to keep the indices grinding higher, but a more convincing rally needs broader participation

Source: Bloomberg

Good morning!

[8:27 am] ASX 200 futures are up 18 pts (+0.20%). Here's what happened overnight:

• Tech carried Wall Street as chipmakers rallied for a sixth straight session, offsetting a selloff in bank shares

  • Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (+2.0%)

  • S&P 500 flat, Equal-weight S&P 500 (+0.06%)

  • Nasdaq (+0.45%), Dow (-0.36%) and Russell 2000 (+0.51%)

• Brent fell 1.5% to US$98.49, a two-week low on signs Iran could reopen Hormuz within a week and Saudi Arabia could resume Yanbu exports

• US and Iranian officials met for three hours on the UN sidelines in talks Trump called very productive