Friday 7th August 2026 NAB Markets Research Disclaimer Financial Services Guide | Information on our services - NAB Fighting has kicked off again in the Middle East, this time the Houthis attacking Saudi supported territory in Yemen, with a significant loss of life. Could this open up the troubles on another front, drawing Saudi Arabia further into the conflict. Meanwhile, a deal on the reopening the Strait still hasn’t happened. The net effect oil is back on the rise, and the Aussie dollar has lost ground. What happens next will be a focus today, along with labour market data for the US and Canada. As Phil discusses with NAB’s Ken Crompton there has been a series of data suggesting strength in the labour market – for example, last night’s weekly jobless claims fell below 200k (for the 4-week average) for the first time since October 2022. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kicking off again

NAB Morning Call

World troubles in the Middle East have kicked off again, this time with the Houthis making attacks on Yemeni territory backed by the Saudis. And we're still waiting for that deal to reopen the strait. Meanwhile, jobs data today may be a positive sign for the United States. The weekly initial claims last week in the US fell below 200,000 for the first time in quite a while. It's Friday, 7th of August, 2026. It's the morning call from NAB. Good morning. A quarter percent rise in the US dollar this morning.

That's pushed the Aussie down a third of 1% to 70.3 US cents. So still in the 70s. The Swiss franc down two thirds of 1% and the yen falling 0.4%. Oops, that didn't last long, did it? Also a four basis point drop in Japanese government bond yields yesterday as well. But bond yields are generally higher this morning, up at six basis points for 10-year treasuries, five for UK gilts and three or four across much of the rest of Europe.

Aussie 10 years were at 4.92% yesterday, but back up to 5% now on futures. And a mixed story on shares. The Dow is down three quarters of 1%. The Nasdaq and S&P pretty flat. They were up, then they've fallen down again, but not really moving on the day. And European shares have risen up 0.4% for the Eurostox 50 and oil today higher, 3.8% for Brent, around $82.50 a barrel now. WTI is up 2.8%. So let's join the dots on all of that.

Kicking off again

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The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

Kicking off again

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.