PinnedMon 10 Aug 2026 at 6:46amMon 10 Aug 2026 at 6:46amMarket snapshotBy Stephen LettsASX 200 futures: +0.4% to 9,233 pointsASX 200 (Friday): -0.1% to 9,274 pointsAustralian dollar: +0.5% to 70.67 US centsWall Street: S&P 500 +0.6%, Dow +0.3% Nasdaq +1.3%Europe (Friday): Dax +0.7%, FTSE +0.3%, Eurostoxx +0,3%Spot gold: +2.4% to $US4,342/ounceOil: Brent futures +1.3% to $US83.55/barrel, WTI futures +1.2% to $US78.18/barrelIron ore (Friday): -1.0% to $US95.15/tonneCopper (LME): -0.1% to $US14,093/tonneBitcoin: +0.1% to $US65,131Prices current at around 7:00am AESTMon 10 Aug 2026 at 8:00amMon 10 Aug 2026 at 8:00amReporting season: CBA and Telstra FY earnings, results season cranks up a notchBy Stephen LettsMon: Car Group (FY), Westpac (Q3)Tue: Southern Cross Media, Amotiv, SGH (FY26) Helia Group (HY26) Life360 (Q1)Wed: CBA, Computershare, AGL, Seek, Suncorp, Arena REIT (FY26)Thu: Telstra, Transurban, Treasury Wine Estates, ASX, IAG, Origin Energy, Orora, Charter Hall Long Wale REIT, Homeco Daily Needs REIT (FY26)Fri: Baby Bunting (FY26), QBE (HY26)The ASX August reporting season cranks up another notch this week with four of the ASX top 20 tabling results and a fifth, Westpac, releasing a quarterly earnings update.CBA (Wednesday) is the big one that could impact market sentiment, particularly among the banks.The consensus view is a flat cash profit of around of around $10.8 billion ($10.3 billion in FY26).The key issues to watch will be as usual margins and impairment charges."CBA's strong deposit base is likely to continue to support retail margins, while established proprietary distribution channels and scale provides an edge over peers," UBS bank analyst John Storey said in a research note to clients."Key risk for CBA during 2H results is likely to be around investor mortgages," Mr Storey said.Telsta (Thursday) is expected to report a solid jump in net profit to $2.4 billion from $2.2 billion a year ago.Dividends are also expected to be higher (21cps vs 19 cps in 2025).The other blue chips posting results include Transurban (FY) and QBE with its interim numbers on Friday.Key EventMon 10 Aug 2026 at 7:50amMon 10 Aug 2026 at 7:50amWestpac Q3 profit edges upBy Stephen LettsWestpac has just announced an uptick in profits in its Q3 earnings update.Westpac reported a $1.8 billion unaudited statutory net profit which it said was up 3% on the first half average.Its pre-provision profit increased by 1%Revenue increased 1% with a 2% rise in net interest income more than offsetting a 3% decline in non-interest income.Operating expenses rose by 1%, primarily due to wage growth and investment in the business.Impairment charges were calculated at 10 basis points of average gross loans and included an increase in provisioning in an "increase in the severity of the downside scenarion."Mon 10 Aug 2026 at 7:25amMon 10 Aug 2026 at 7:25amThis week: RBA rates meetingBy Stephen LettsAustralia:Tue: RBA rates decision, RBA quarterly forecasts, NAB business survey (Jul)Thu: CBA wage & labour insights (Jul)Fri: RBA Governor Michelle Bullock House Economics Committee hearing, Lending indicators (Q2)International:Tue: US — Small business optimism (Jul), Existing home sales (Jul)Wed: US — CPI & PPIThu: UK — GDP (Q2)Fri: US — Retail sales (Jul) EU — GDP (Q2), Trade balance (Jun) CN — Current account balance (Q2)The big-ticket item of the week is the RBA's Monetary Policy Board meeting although the market is convinced there will be no change.The interest will centre on the Board's post decision statement, Governor Michelle Bullock's media conference and the release of new economic forecasts in the quarterly Statement on Monetary Policy.In its preview, CBA says it expects the RBA to remain concerned about elevated inflation and reiterate they will be willing to hike again if required."But currently there is little need to tighten further given the combination of data prints since June and our forecasts for the remainder of 2026," CBA saidIf that's not enough RBA speak for you Assistant Governor (Financial Markets) Christopher Kent is having a "fireside chat"* on Thursday and Governor Bullock heads to Canberra to front the House Economics Committee on Friday.NAB releases its long-running and influential business survey on Tuesday. Conditions are expected to be steady, holding below the long-term trend while confidence is likely to be weak despite conditions picking up in recent NAB and PMI surveys.Overseas, the US will get an update on both consumer and producer inflation (Wednesday), while Q2 GDP numbers for the UK and Europe will be released.*Could be wrong, but we've never seen a roaring, or even cosy fire at one of these monetary policy chats, nor, for what it's worth, have we seen a "Town Hall Meeting" discussion at a town hall.Key EventMon 10 Aug 2026 at 7:10amMon 10 Aug 2026 at 7:10amWall Street hits new high, Atlassian jumps 35%By Stephen LettsWall Street powered higher on Friday supported by strong earnings reports still rolling in and an easing of fears about the Fed hiking rates at its next meeting.The key S&P 500 index gained 0.6% to a new record high.The blue-chip Dow rose 0.3% and the tech-centric Nasdaq bettered both, up 1.3%.When trading closed on Saturday morning (AEST), ASX 200 futures were pointing to a 0.4% gain today.Over the week, the S&P 500 rallied 3.6% and the Nasdaq 5.2%.With earnings season entering the final stretch, of the 436 companies in the S&P 500 that have already reported results, 85% have topped analyst expectations, according to LSEG data — well above the 68% average since 1994.US listed, Australian-based collaboration software maker Atlassian shot up more than 35% for its largest-ever daily percentage gain, while chip company Microchip jumped almost 14%, its best daily performance in more than 15 months, after both forecast quarterly revenue above estimates.Elon Musk's SpaceX surged 15.8% a day after the expiry of the first of several share lockup restrictions following its record public offering in June.Surprisingly weak July jobs figures and downward revisions of earlier releases cooled expectations about the Fed hiking rates at its September meeting.The Labor Department said nonfarm payrolls decreased by 23,000 jobs last month, well below the estimate of economists polled by Reuters that called for an increase of 80,000 jobs.Previously reported job gains for the prior two months were also revised sharply lower, down about 100,000, while the unemployment rate fell to 4.1% last month from 4.2% in June due to workers leaving the labour force.The weaker jobs market combined with lower oil prices easing inflation concerns saw market expectations for a September rate hike from the Fed drop to about 44%, according to CME FedWatch, down from 55% in the prior session and 67% a week ago.Not surprisingly, US Treasury bond yields fell. The US dollar fell against all major currencies, including the Aussie dollar, which hit its highest level since early June.Gold hit a seven-week high, up 2.3% on Friday to $US4,336/ounce. The spot price jumped 7% last week, its biggest weekly gain since January.Ongoing uncertainty about an end to the US-Iran war saw oil prices on the rise again.The global benchmark, Brent crude futures gained about $US1/barrel, or 1.3%, to $US83.55/barrel.However, over the week Brent was 8% lower.With ReutersMon 10 Aug 2026 at 6:40amMon 10 Aug 2026 at 6:40amGood morningBy Stephen LettsGood morning and welcome to another day on the ABC markets and finance blog.Stephen Letts from ABC business team limbering up for a blow-by-blow coverage of the day's events, where every post is hopefully a winner, but none should be construed as financial advice.Wall Street closed the week with a strong session as the S&P 500 hit a fresh record high.Oil prices edged up as uncertainty about an end to the US-Iran war rolled on.The ASX looks like enjoying a bright opening to the week.When trading closed on Saturday morning, ASX 200 futures pointed to a 0.4% rise today. If sustained, that would be enough to chalk up another record close.We expect to see Car Group's full-year result and Westpac's Q3 trading update soon in what is a busy week featuring the RBA rates decision and full-year results from the likes of CBA and Telstra.As always, the game's afoot, so let's get blogging.