ASX 200 Live Today - Wednesday, 30th September

Welcome to our live ASX coverage for Wednesday, September 30. 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.

US 100% tariffs on some patented drugs take effect

[8:46 am] Trump's 100% tariffs on certain patented drugs and ingredients took effect on Tuesday, but broad exemptions limit the impact to a small group of mostly smaller drugmakers.

• Large pharma companies with Most Favored Nation agreements are exempt, and they make the vast majority of brand-name drugs. Generics, orphan drugs and certain specialty medicines are also largely exempt

• Patented drugs from the EU, Switzerland, Japan and South Korea face a 15% rate, while the UK is exempt and companies with US production agreements face 20%

• More than 100 drugmakers make at least one non-exempt drug, according to Brookings, and most rely on contract manufacturers rather than their own plants

• Experts warn that smaller firms may be forced to close or merge, which could push prices higher and reduce the number of new drugs

Source: CNN

Spanish inflation hits 5%, highest since February 2023

[8:45 am] Spain's September CPI came in above forecasts, reinforcing the case for further ECB rate hikes.

• Spanish CPI up 5% year-on-year in September vs 4.9% ests, from 4.6% in August

• Fuel and package holidays drove the rise, and the core gauge also rose more than expected

• Euro zone inflation is forecast to reach a three-year high of 3.7% when Eurostat reports on Friday

• The ECB has raised the deposit rate twice to 2.5%, and markets are pricing almost four more quarter-point hikes this cycle

• Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said about 2 percentage points of the print came from energy, and that government support has absorbed about half of the price increase

Source: CNBC

Wall Street slips as long-end yields hit 24-year high

[8:44 am] US stocks followed bonds lower as concerns that elevated energy costs will fuel inflation and more Fed hikes outweighed a drop in oil.

• The S&P 500 fell 0.2% for back-to-back losses and the Dow fell 0.3%, while the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.2%

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%, and the euro fell 0.3% to US$1.134, its weakest in 16 months

• BMO's Ian Lyngen said the Middle East conflict and its implications for forward inflation are "likely to dictate price action in US rates for the foreseeable future"

• Bloomberg strategist Tatiana Darie said stocks and bonds are vulnerable to further downside, with "peak hawkishness" still a long way off by historic norms

• OpenAI aims to raise at least US$30bn in a new funding round after pushing back its IPO plans

Source: Bloomberg

US 30-year Treasury yield hits highest since 2002

[8:43 am] The long end of the US curve sold off for a sixth straight session, with inflation concerns and heavy corporate debt supply weighing on Treasuries.

• The 30-year yield topped 5.61% intraday, its highest since June 2002 when it peaked at 5.644%, before easing back below 5.6%

• The 10-year yield held near 5.25%, close to its highest since 2007, while the two-year fell as much as 5bps to around 4.89% after Fed Governor John Williams' comments

• Treasuries have lost 2.6% so far this year vs a 6.3% gain in 2025, with September on track to be the worst since 2023. Over the past decade, the median loss has been 0.9% in September and 0.7% in October

• CIBC's Michael Cloherty said the long end looks cheap by historical standards but "we have yet to see the big value buyer up here", while Citi described a "light buyer's strike"

• Jim Bianco is turning bullish on Treasuries for the first time in six years, and RBC BlueBay CIO Mark Dowding said the global bond selloff has been overdone

Source: Bloomberg

Good morning!

[8:25 am] ASX 200 futures are down 5 pts (-0.05%) . Here's what happened overnight:

• Wall Street slipped for a second session as long-dated Treasury yields pushed to fresh multi-decade highs, although the major benchmarks closed off their worst levels

  • S&P 500 (-0.17%), Nasdaq (-0.09%), Dow (-0.26%), Russell 2000 (-0.35%)

  • US 2-year down 5 bps to 4.87%, US 10-year flat at 5.23% and US 30-year up 1 bp to 5.56%

• US consumer confidence sank to its lowest since 2014 as households flagged rising fuel costs, inflation and a softer jobs outlook 

• Fed's Williams pushed back on an October hike, backing one more increase late this year but saying there is no urgency to move