ASX briefings — Friday 17 July 2026

ASX 200 opens Friday against a semiconductor-led Nasdaq fall

The Nasdaq Composite closed down 1.47% at 25,881.95 after Taiwan Semiconductor raised full-year capital spending guidance to US$60bn to US$64bn and semiconductor shares fell. Alphabet dropped 4.44% on a reported Gemini 3.5 Pro delay, while Apple rose 1.76% and Microsoft 1.38%, holding the Dow to -0.20%. SPI futures point the ASX 200 open 26 points or 0.3% lower. Brent added 0.82% to US$84.92 on Iran supply concerns, gold eased 0.30% and AUD/USD sits at 0.6998. No Australian data is scheduled today.