Lunch Wrap: ASX ignores AI party as Santos rides oil rise | Stick head

• ASX falls as war risk trumps AI hype
• Energy runs hot while property is hit
• Temple and Webster fail to appoint a new CEO

By midday in Sydney on Thursday, the S&P/ASX 200 was down about 0.75%.

Overnight on Wall Street, the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 1.6% as AI trading continued to do its job.

Semiconductor stocks posted a record 16th straight rise, with U.S. investors again pouring money into everything related to chips, servers and data centers.

Apparently it is now assumed that the demand for AI is infinite, or at least infinite until proven otherwise.

However, the local traders here didn’t really believe in the AI ​​dream. They were too busy staring at a map of the Middle East.

More specifically, the fact that the Strait of Hormuz is still practically blocked.

Trump has extended the ceasefire and says there is no set deadline for a new Iranian proposal.

It sounds nice and diplomatic…until you check what actually…