Live: ASX likely to tumble, oil hits two-month high amid US-Iran strikes

The Australian share market is on track to fall quite sharply after the US military conducted fresh strikes against Iran, driving oil prices to a two-month high.This contributed to a global bond sell-off and significant losses on Wall Street amid inflation concerns.See how the trading day unfolds on our blog.Disclaimer: this blog is not intended as investment advice.Wed 2 Sep 2026 at 7:44amWed 2 Sep 2026 at 7:44amMarket snapshotASX futures: -0.9% to 8,934 pointsASX 200 (Tuesday close): -0.1% to 9,067 points Australian dollar: -0.3% to 71.5 US centsWall Street: Dow Jones (-0.8%), S&P 500 (-0.7%), Nasdaq Composite (-1%)Europe: FTSE (-0.3%), DAX (-1.1%), Stoxx 600 (-0.6%)Spot gold: -2.7% to $US4,329/ounceOil (Brent futures): +5.2% to $US95.15/barrelIron ore (Singapore): flat at $US99.45/tonneBitcoin: -1.5% to $US77,410Prices current at around 7:30am AEST Wed 2 Sep 2026 at 9:10amWed 2 Sep 2026 at 9:10amHow 'the Nerd Reich' is waging a war against democracyA really interesting column from Gareth Hutchens based on an interview he did last week with US journalist and author Gil Durán, who has recently published The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy.The title really sums up Durán's thesis, which is that many tech billionaires want to usher in a post-democracy era, where they control their own pockets of society.This is well worth a read, and interested in your thoughts, please share in the comments.Wed 2 Sep 2026 at 8:56amWed 2 Sep 2026 at 8:56amAI boom's demand for skilled workers could hit housing pipelineAustralia lacks enough workers to build both houses and data centres in its pipeline, and new data shows the artificial intelligence boom will worsen this shortfall.The Powering Skills Organisation (PSO), a government-established jobs and skills commission, has warned that already-high competition for workers has been accelerated.The report, released on Wednesday, estimates Australia needs an additional 72,000 electricians, technicians and related tradespeople by 2030 to meet projected demand.Last year, the same report forecast a shortage of 42,000 energy workers.A key driver of the widening gap is the rapid growth in data centre construction, expected to be worth about $150 billion by the end of the decade, according to Treasury.For more, here's the story by Ewa Staszewska:Wed 2 Sep 2026 at 8:33amWed 2 Sep 2026 at 8:33amBathla has potential to be largest housing collapse Australia has ever seenThe potential collapse of property developer Bathla Group is a "disaster" for buyers, subcontractors and lenders.Some are claiming it might be the largest housing collapse in Australian history.Michael Akkawi, the founder and CEO of prominent developer Conquest says "it would be second only to the HIH collapse" in 2001."This is actually larger than the Babcock collapse back in 2009."Based on the numbers that they're reporting at the moment, it's circa $3.6 billion in debt, when you add the layers of subcontractors, suppliers, tax debt, and everyone else in the food chain, that number could be astronomically higher."Ultimately, Mr Akkawi believes Bathla will go into liquidation, and says the wider problems of high construction costs, government tax changes and interest rate hikes are a "wake-up call" for the industry.You can listen to his full interview with The Business host Kirsten Aiken here:Wed 2 Sep 2026 at 8:13amWed 2 Sep 2026 at 8:13amMarkets rattled by major escalation in US-Iran warIt's fair to say the latest developments on the US-Iran war are a major escalation of their six-month-long conflict.The US military has launched new attacks on Iran, with explosions reported in cities along the Strait of Hormuz.US President Donald Trump has posted on his social media channel about the fresh wave of attacks, saying it was retaliation for Iran's attempts to place sea mines in the Strait.An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) spokesperson warned that the US "will regret its new attacks", saying "severe punishment awaits the aggressors".The IRGC then said it launched an attack on Jordan with ballistic missiles.Jordan's military says its air defences intercepted 10 of 13 ballistic missiles that entered the kingdom's airspace.So that's why oil prices surged, and it explains why the Australian share market will probably have a bad trading day.For the latest updates, I can highly recommend the ABC's Iran war blog here:Wed 2 Sep 2026 at 8:03amWed 2 Sep 2026 at 8:03amGold falls sharply as stocks on Wall Street and Europe close lowerThe latest escalation between US and Iranian forces has led to oil prices surging and government bonds being sold off — which drove yields to multi-year highs.This also led to a stronger US dollar as the odds of a rate hike in September have risen sharply.The flow-on effect was a sharp fall in the gold price. The precious metal's spot price dropped 2.7% to $US4,329 an ounce.On Wall Street, the Dow Jones index fell 0.8% to 52,767 points, the S&P 500 lost 0.7%, to 7,631 points, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1%, to 26,100 points. In Europe, Britain's FTSE (-0.3%), Germany's DAX (-1.1%) and the pan-European Stoxx 600 (-0.6%) indices dropped as well.Wed 2 Sep 2026 at 7:50amWed 2 Sep 2026 at 7:50amHow Coles and NSW Police busted an Apple gift card tampering scamEarlier this week, we brought you an ABC investigation into gift cards being tampered with, then sold to unsuspecting consumers at Australia's largest supermarkets.It has left shoppers confused and stressed, raising questions about whether this is linked to a multi-billion-dollar criminal scam.Our reporters Emilia Terzon and Jasper Wells have a follow-up to that story.They reveal how Coles discovered it was being defrauded by a scammer — and how the Police tracked down and arrested him. It's a riveting read!Wed 2 Sep 2026 at 7:44amWed 2 Sep 2026 at 7:44amASX to open lower as renewed US-Iran fighting sparks inflation fearsGood morning, and welcome to the ABC's finance blog! I'll be guiding you through the latest market action for the next few hours.It appears the Australian share market is on track to fall quite sharply when it opens in just over two hours.ASX futures, which are a rough indicator of how the market may open, have dropped 0.9%.So what's behind this pessimism?For starters, the latest escalation in US-Iran hostilities has driven oil prices to a two-month high on fading hopes that this war will end any time soon.Brent crude futures jumped 5.3% to $US95.26 per barrel. The price of this oil benchmark shot up by around $US4.70 in just a few hours.That, in turn, had led to renewed worries about surging inflation. And that led to a global bond sell-off, which pushed yields to multi-year highs.Essentially, investors have been selling off their holdings of government debt and are demanding a higher return.The US 10-year Treasury bond yield rose as high as 4.8% overnight, to its highest level since January 2025.And the flow-on effect was a stronger US dollar, especially given the odds of the Federal Reserve lifting America's interest rates at the end of September rose to 68%, so it's looking more likely than not.The stronger greenback led to the Australian dollar falling slightly to 70.5 US cents.Anyway, please grab a coffee, tea or whatever you normally have in the morning, and I'll have more updates for you shortly!