Mideast woes continue as US, Iran trade strikes anew

2. Sep 2026

(AWP Alliance News) - European equities are called to open lower and oil prices climb as US forces hit Iran's Guards in response to attempted attacks on commercial vessels.

Here is what you need to know before the European market open on Wednesday:

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MARKETS

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CAC 40: called down 24.6 points, 0.3%, at 8,277.25

DAX 40: called down 145.9 points, 0.6%, at 25,824.21

FTSE 100: called down 57.5 points, 0.5%, at 10,731.78

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Hang Seng: down 1.0% at 25,087.22

Nikkei 225: down 3.0% at 64,259.41

S&P/ASX 200: down 1.1% at 8,967.40

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DJIA: closed down 419.02 points, 0.8%, at 52,766.88

S&P 500: closed down 54.67 points, 0.7%, at 7,631.47

Nasdaq Composite: closed down 271.12 points, 1.0%, at 26,099.77

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US 10-year Treasury yield: 4.81% (4.77%)

US 30-year Treasury yield: 5.28% (5.25%)

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EUR: lower at USD1.1575 (USD1.1593)

GBP: lower at USD1.3499 (USD1.3527)

USD: higher at JPY160.21 (JPY160.07)

GOLD: lower at USD4,303.17 per ounce (USD4,364.48)

OIL (Brent): higher at USD95.46 a barrel (USD92.48)

(changes since previous London equities close)

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ECONOMIC CALENDAR

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09:45 EDT Canada interest rate decision

10:30 EDT Canada BoC press conference

08:45 CEST France budget balance

11:00 IST Ireland unemployment

10:00 CEST Italy PPI

09:00 CEST Spain unemployment

08:15 EDT US ADP unemployment

10:00 EDT US factory orders

10:30 EDT US EIA crude oil stocks

14:00 EDT US Fed's Beige Book

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TOP ECONOMIC NEWS

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US forces struck Iran's Revolutionary Guards in response to attempted attacks on commercial shipping and American troops, the US military said, with President Donald Trump vowing a tough response to any counter-attacks. Iranian state television reported that several explosions were heard in the country's south along the strategic Strait of Hormuz waterway. Trump said the "large and powerful" strikes were "in retaliation for the Iranians' failed attempt at adding sea mines to the Strait" and "the Iranians shooting eight missiles, all successfully knocked down, at our Military Base in Jordan." He added: "If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack, they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level."

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Meanwhile, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said that they had carried out a ballistic missile attack on a US base in Jordan, the Iranian news outlet Tasnim reported. The Guards "launched an intense ballistic missile attack on the US Marine Corps base in Jordan, known as Camp Titin," they said in a statement cited by Tasnim. The Jordanian army said it had intercepted 10 ballistic missiles fired from Iranian territory, while three others landed in remote areas. No one was injured.

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US officials defended President Trump's oil deal with Venezuela, saying it would lower oil prices for Americans and counter Russian and Chinese influence on Washington's doorstep. Venezuela's government-dominated National Assembly backed the multibillion-dollar agreement that grants the US control of about one-fifth of Venezuelan reserves. Trump met oil executives at the White House as he tries to tame gas prices that are spiraling because of the Iran war, with his administration hoping the Venezuela deal could help. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright arrived in Venezuela, with a signing of the agreement set for Wednesday. Oil company Chevron is expected to announce a major expansion in Venezuela on the same day.

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The US House of Representatives approved a stopgap funding bill to keep the government operating through mid-December. The measure passed by a large majority after earlier approval by the Senate. Trump can still veto the bill or sign it into law. US citizens are due to vote on November 3 to fill all seats in the House and a portion of the Senate. Trump's Republican Party currently holds narrow majorities in both chambers. The US government's fiscal year ends on September 30. Democrats and Republicans often use budget negotiations to push their party's priorities.

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German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil has hinted at a tougher stance towards China in the debate over unfair trading practices. This could include additional tariffs, for example on hybrid vehicles. A joint venture requirement could also be considered, under which Chinese companies would be obliged to enter partnerships with European majority control in order to protect technological know-how. Concern over stronger Chinese competition has been growing in Germany for some time. Important industries such as carmaking and mechanical engineering are considered particularly affected.

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G20 finance leaders closed their two-day gathering with a statement that all but China backed in full, as Washington insisted that the presence of a Russian minister had no effect on talks. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the fact that nearly all participants agreed to the chair's statement suggested "there has been no impact" from Russia's attendance. The chair's statement called for "free, safe, and predictable navigation through the Strait of Hormuz," though China dissented from that section.

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The Australian economy grew in the second quarter of 2026, official data showed. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Australian economy grew 0.4% in the three months to June 30, accelerating from a 0.3% increase in the previous quarter and surpassing the FXStreet-cited consensus of 0.3% growth. On an annual basis, Australia's GDP increased 2.1% in the twelve months to June, slowing from a 2.5% increase in the twelve months to March, but ahead of the 1.8% growth consensus forecast.

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Australian industrial activity improved sharply in August but remained in contraction, the Australian Industry Group reported. The Australian industry index rose to minus 3.5 points in August on a seasonally adjusted basis from minus 26.2 points in July. The prior month's reading was upwardly revised from minus 29.7 points initially. The index is a measure of activity in Australia's industrial sectors and a positive reading marks an expansion in activity while a negative reading indicates a decline. The performance of manufacturing index rose by 2.7 points to minus 16.6 points, while the performance of construction index climbed 36.6 points to minus 6.9 points.

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COMPANY CALENDAR

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Auto1 Group SE - half year results

Broadcom Inc - Q3 results

Fast Retailing Co Ltd - august sales data

Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Co - Q3 results

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TOP COMPANY NEWS

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ChatGPT maker OpenAI said it was preparing to release its newest powerful model, known as Astra, after implementing "stronger safeguards" following a rogue cyberattack involving a different artificial intelligence model. The San Francisco-based AI firm paused some of its model development for two weeks this summer after two models it was testing were involved in a security breach of software company Hugging Face. Although Astra "was not involved" in the incident, OpenAI has beefed up its safety measures, the company said in a blog post. That includes classifying Astra as reaching a "critical cybersecurity threshold," which means OpenAI believes the model is capable of finding and exploiting cybersecurity gaps.

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Nvidia is in advanced talks to acquire AI startup Hugging Face, Bloomberg reported. According to the Bloomberg report, which cited people familiar with the matter, the Santa Clara, California-based chipmaker could acquire Hugging Face in a transaction totalling around USD14 billion. Hugging Face was founded in 2016 and operates a platform for sharing AI models that can be freely used.

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Nestle will sell its vitamins, minerals and supplements business to US private equity firm Yellow Wood Partners for USD1 billion, the company said in a statement. The Vevey, Switzerland-based food and drink conglomerate said the transaction would allow it to focus resources on areas where it has the "strongest competitive advantage", with Chief Executive Philipp Navratil calling it "another important step in the strategic transformation of our portfolio".

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Shell said it has agreed to increase its stake in Tri Star Energy, a US convenience store operator and fuel distributor, to 100% from 33%. That makes the London-based oil major the full owner of an additional 320 fuel and convenience retail sites in Tennessee and surrounding states, as well as supply agreements with 552 more dealer-owned locations, the firm said. Shell acquired the extra interest from the Parman, Kimbro Oil and their subsidiaries.

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Airbnb appointed Pepijn Rijvers as chief business officer. In an email to employees, Brian Chelsky, chief executive and co-founder of the San Francisco-based vacation rental platform, announced that Rijvers will lead Homes, Hotels, Global Markets, and Enterprise Operations as CBO. The company also announced Fallon O'Connor is the new head of Communications and People.

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Palo Alto Networks said AI is proving a "durable" tailwind to the cybersecurity industry as it reported better-than-expected fourth quarter results and guidance. The Santa Clara, California-based cybersecurity company reported a net loss of USD282 million in the three months ended July 31, swung from a net income of USD254 million the year prior. Revenue grew 34% to USD3.41 billion from USD2.54 billion, beating FactSet consensus of USD3.35 billion. Basic losses per share totalled USD.35 compared to earnings of USD0.38 per share a year ago.

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Telstra said an investigation into the causes of July's network outage confirmed the company's initial suspicions. The Melbourne, Australia-based telecommunications company experienced a mobile network outage on July 8 that disrupted some voice, messaging and data services across Australia, including some triple zero calls to emergency services. Telstra said: "The investigation confirmed the outage was triggered by a specific technical event, consistent with what we said at the time: incorrect date information propagated through parts of our mobile network following planned maintenance on the network timing system. "Most significantly, TAP found the outage was primarily a result of us not treating network timing as a critical capability within the network...requiring the highest levels of oversight and protection." The investigation did however conclude that once the major incident response was initiated by the company, Telstra's teams managed the recovery "effectively".

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Corporate Travel Management reported profit for financial year 2026 as it makes progress with remediation. The Brisbane, Australia-based travel management solutions provider posted net profit after tax of AUD17.7 million, or USD12.6 million, for the year ended June 30, swinging from a loss of AUD348.5 million a year ago. Revenue for the period was AUD669.9 million, increasing 4.1% from AUD643.4 million year-on-year. It said customer activity increased transaction volumes to AUD18.3 million, up 13% from AUD16.2 million.

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Deep Yellow announced that its subsidiary Reptile Mineral Resources & Exploration has signed an earn-in agreement with Core Energy Minerals for the Nova Energy Namibia joint venture. Reptile Mineral holds a 65% interest in the joint venture and is the current manager. Deep Yellow, a Subiaco, Australia-based uranium project developer, said Core Energy will invest AUD5 million in two phases to earn up to a 51% interest and will assume management of the joint venture during the earn-in period.

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By Judy Amaca, Alliance News reporter Asia Pacific

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