After two sessions in the red, Wall Street made ground overnight with the S&P 500 up 0.3 per cent on the back of US inflation coming in as expected.Futures trading is pricing in a marginal loss today on the ASX ahead of a busy session of earnings results from the likes of Telstra, IAG and the ASX itself.Follow the day's financial news and insights from our specialist business reporters on our live blog.Disclaimer: this blog is not intended as investment advice.PinnedThu 13 Aug 2026 at 6:44amThu 13 Aug 2026 at 6:44amMarket snapshotBy Stephen LettsASX 200 futures: -0.2% to 9,132 pointsASX 200 (Wednesday): -0.4% to 9,209 pointsAustralian dollar: flat at 70.61 US centsWall Street: S&P 500 +0.3%, Dow flat Nasdaq +1.0%Europe: Dax -0.2%, FTSE -0.1%, Eurostoxx -0.3%Spot gold: +0.9% to $US4,407/ounceOil: Brent futures -0.3% to $US88.61/barrel, WTI futures -0.4% to $US82.88/barrelIron ore: -0.1% to $US95.70/tonneCopper (LME): -0.1% to $US14,153/tonneBitcoin: -0.4% to $US63,455Prices current at around 6:40am AESTCollapse all postsFilter PostsAll8Key Events6Market snapshot1Results4Key EventThu 13 Aug 2026 at 8:19amThu 13 Aug 2026 at 8:19amANZ home loan applications slide by 12%By Kate AinsworthIncluded in ANZ's results this morning are details about the value of its mortgage applications, which has fallen by 12% since the federal budget in May up until the end of July.However, ANZ makes the note that this decline is excluding the federal government's 5% deposit scheme.The bank said that "mortgage application value in 3Q26 was broadly flat compared with 2Q26" — but ignoring that deposit scheme, home loan application values were down 5% quarter on quarter.ANZ's update on home loan applications follows broader slumps reported by Commonwealth Bank and Westpac, which have seen declines of 15% and 20% respectively since the federal budget.Key EventThu 13 Aug 2026 at 8:10amThu 13 Aug 2026 at 8:10amANZ profit edges higherBy Stephen LettsANZ has posted a 1% increase in Q3 cash profit to $1.9 billion.The cash profit was up around 1% on the quarterly average over the first half of FY 26 and 2% higher than the corresponding period year, a result that was in line with market expectations.ANZ Q3 FY26 (ANZ)Key EventThu 13 Aug 2026 at 8:00amThu 13 Aug 2026 at 8:00amTelstra profit edges up to $2.4 billionBy Stephen LettsTelstra has posted a 3.2% increase in full-year profit to $2.4 billion.The result, on the back of marginally lower sales revenue of $22.9 billion, was in line with market expectations.Telstra's 2 cents per share lift in full-year dividend to 21cps is also in line with market expectations.Key EventThu 13 Aug 2026 at 7:53amThu 13 Aug 2026 at 7:53amIAG profit slips 25%By Stephen LettsThe big general insurer IAG has announced a 25% fall in full-year net profit to $1.02 billion.The fall came despite a solid 15% increase in revenue to $21.3 billion.The company said it was a strong earnings result despite "elevated natural peril costs" compared to FY25.The underlying profit on the insurance business was $1.6 billion.IAG paid out a total of $12.4 billion in claims, up on $10.4 billion in FY25.The full-year dividend was nudged up to 32 cents per share compared to the 31cps in FY25.Key EventThu 13 Aug 2026 at 7:43amThu 13 Aug 2026 at 7:43amGlobal oil facing shortfall despite falling demand: IEABy Stephen LettsThe International Energy Agency says the global oil market is facing a 1.8 million barrel a day shortfall as Middle East output remains well below pre-war levels.In its latest update, the IEA said global oil supply will fall by 4.3 million barrels per day, or around 4%, this year.The impact on prices will be slightly offset by a decline in demand of 1.6 million bpd in 2026."Global oil supply has fallen well below demand due to the Strait of Hormuz shutdown, the U.S. blockade of Iranian exports, attacks within the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and reduced Kazakh CPC Blend exports," the IEA, which advises industrialised countries, said in a monthly report, referring also to drone attacks in the Black Sea affecting exports.This year's expected supply drop compares with the 3.7 million bpd forecast in the IEA's July report and will take total supply to the Paris-based agency's lowest forecast yet for this year at 102.02 million bpd.Middle East oil loadings had recovered to 20 million bpd at the start of July — broadly in line with pre-war Hormuz traffic — the IEA said, but dropped back to 12 million bpd later in the month.Middle East production was 8.3 million bpd below pre-war levels in July, the IEA added, compared with 14 million bpd of lost output at the peak of the crisis."The nascent recovery underway from mid-May narrowed the supply deficit in June, but renewed hostilities undermined trade flows," it said.The IEA expects an oil market deficit of 1.8 million bpd over July-September, marking a 1 million bpd downward revision from its July forecast.With ReutersKey EventThu 13 Aug 2026 at 7:26amThu 13 Aug 2026 at 7:26amWall Street breaks two-day losing streak, ASX set to slideBy Stephen LettsUS inflation remained on the high side in July, but within expectations allowing Wall Street traders to bid up key indices after two loosing sessions.S&P 500: +0.3%Dow: flatNasdaq: +1.0%The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were lifted by upbeat quarterly results from CoreWeave and other AI infrastructure firms, while the CPI inflation coming in at 3.4% year-on-year reinforced bets that the US Federal Reserve will hold interest rates steady in September."The numbers came in right in line. The market's reaction is slightly positive because the market was fearful it was going to come in worse than it did," portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth Robert Pavlik told Reuters."You're seeing a market thinking that the Fed is not being pushed toward a rate hike."Despite that positive sentiment in the US, the ASX looks like slipping again today.Futures trading is pointing to 0.2% decline on opening.The tech sector was given a boost by CoreWeave (+19%) after the AI cloud company lifted its annual capital spending forecast and topped second-quarter earnings estimates.Data centre operators also rose, with IREN gaining almost 10% and Applied Digital up 4.9%.Data centre company Nebius Group jumped 34%, helped by second-quarter results that beat expectations.Super Micro Computer surged 19% after the AI server maker forecast fiscal 2027 revenue above Wall Street expectations.Chipmakers gained, with Nvidia rising 3% and Micron Technology adding 4.9%.The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index advanced about 2.5% but remains down about 15% from its record-high close in June.The relatively benign inflation reading, coupled with last week's softer jobs report, saw markets cut September rate hike pricing to now less than 50% probability.US interest rate and currency markets didn't move much. The Australian dollar trading sideways.Oil prices were also steady with little news coming out of the Middle East overnight.Thu 13 Aug 2026 at 6:47amThu 13 Aug 2026 at 6:47amGood 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 has closed higher after a couple of subdued sessions — the S&P 500 gained 0.3%.However, the ASX looks slipping on opening with ASX 200 futures down 0.2% at 6:40am AEST.We have a busy morning ahead of us with Telstra's full year results dropping soon.Some the other bigger companies scheduled to release results today include Transurban, ASX, IAG, Origin Energy, Orora, Charter Hall Long Wale REIT and Homeco Daily Needs REIT.Treasury Wine Estates is also expected to release its formal FY26 results today, but given it gave pretty exact guidance and a heads up on another big write down on US assets ($588 million) today's release won't be much of a surprise.As always, the game's afoot, so let's get blogging.