Market Reports

• Australian Market Report: The market was closed for ANZAC Day. On Wednesday the Australian sharemarket forfeited all of its early gains on Wednesday as the latest inflation figures showed price pressures remained sticky, which could push out the possibility of a rate cut from the Reserve Bank. The S&P/ASX 200 Index finished flat, dropping 0.5 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 7683 at the close..... [more]

• U.S. Market Report: U.S. stocks slumped on Thursday as most megacaps fell after Meta Platforms' quarterly results, while sentiment was shaken amid signs of persistent inflation that dampened hopes of the Federal Reserve easing monetary policy anytime soon..... [more]

• European Market Report: European stocks closed lower on Thursday with investors digesting a slew of earnings updates and economic data from Europe and the U.S. Although several companies reported fairly strong quarterly earnings, weak updates and revenue guidance from a few top notch European and U.S. companies fell short of expectations, rendering the mood cautious for much of the day's trading session..... [more]

• Asian Market Report: Asian stocks fell in thin holiday trading on Thursday, with the Australian and New Zealand markets closed for Anzac Day. Investor sentiment was hit as Facebook parent Meta Platforms posted better-than-expected earnings but warned that expenses would be higher this year due to "aggressive" spending on artificial intelligence (AI)..... [more]

Australian Business News

• The 26th April is shaping up to be 2024’s most popular day to “chuck a sickie” as workers take advantage of their sick leave following Thursday’s Anzac Day public holiday. However, business groups have warned that the phenomenon could cost the economy millions in lost productivity amid already challenging circumstances for small operators..... [more]

• Australian mortgage holders should not be banking on interest rate relief following surprisingly strong quarterly inflation data. The March quarter consumer price index revealed lingering price pressures, especially for services such as education, health, rents and insurance, slimming the chance of interest rate cuts any time soon..... [more]

• Financial advisers are not concerned about what fees superannuation funds were charging five, eight or ten years ago, they are more concerned about what fees will be next year, according to the Financial Advice Association of Australia (FAAA)..... [more]

• The asset class growing like a mushroom in our own backyard (and how to access it). Conditions couldn’t be riper for this asset to blossom - but you may not know what it is. transcript & video.... [more]

• Are you an investment historian or a futurist? Each approach has its advantages—and drawbacks..... [more]

• ASX small caps with blue-chip profiles: XRF Scientific.... [more]

• Mining giant BHP has confirmed it made a $60 billion proposal to rival Anglo American about buying the 107-year-old mining company, in what could rank as this year’s biggest deal..... [more]

• Western Mines Group says it has found nickel sulphide “nearly everywhere we drill” after plunging 750m into a third deep diamond hole at its Mulga Tank nickel project in Western Australia’s Yilgarn region..... [more]

• Rio Tinto earnings set for unexpected gold boost, says investment bank.... [more]

• Interest in buying gold has understandably spiked in 2024, thanks to the precious metal smashing through its previous all-time high. This has been a huge win for any ASX investor who owns physical gold bullion, of course. But it has also given those who own ASX gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) a major windfall..... [more]

• Westgold Resources has recorded its fifth consecutive quarter of cash build after lifting its past closing balance by $9 million to end the March period with $247 million worth of cash and bullion in the kitty. According to its March quarterly report, the Mid West miner sold 47,035 gold ounces during the three-month period at a price of $3137 per ounce to generate $148 million in revenue..... [more]

• Patagonia Lithium (ASX: PL3) has reached a milestone at its Formentera project in northwest Argentina, completing a successful pump test at maiden well JAM 24-01 which yielded a flow rate of 292 litres per hour from a 2-inch pipe..... [more]

• Facebook’s local profits rose by 36 per cent in the 2023 calendar year, as the social media giant reduced its headcount and increased the amount of money it funnelled offshore, according to new filings with the Australian corporate regulator..... [more]

• Blocking children’s access to social media would be an ineffective way to protect young people from online dangers, experts say, as leaders grapple with a deluge of distressing online content. The federal opposition has revived calls to trial age verification on social media, in an attempt to shield young children from exposure to harmful images and videos on popular platforms..... [more]

• NSW Health settles largest underpayment class action outcome for junior doctors alleging underpayment.... [more]

• Opinion - Stephen Bartholomeusz: BHP’s clever plan for dealing with Anglo’s poison pills. Anglo American has been an increasingly vulnerable target for one of its larger rivals for the best part of two years, but the poison pills in its sprawling portfolio deterred predators. Now BHP has a plan for excising the most poisonous of those pills..... [more]

• Analysis - David Speers: The government's plan for a future 'made in Australia' has failed to win over the productivity commissioner — and that's a problem. Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers have a pre-budget problem..... [more]

• Opinion - Bob Kohut: The Best Undervalued ASX Stocks.... [more]

• Opinion - Stephen Bartholomeusz: Tesla’s profits are being sunk by a tide of electric cars. There is an interesting contrast between the first-quarter results of two of the world’s biggest automakers, and it says a lot about the state of the market for electric vehicles..... [more]

World Business News

• U.S. Growth Slowed in First Quarter, but Inflation Remained a Bug. Gross domestic product, adjusted for inflation, increased at a 1.6 percent annual rate in the first three months of the year..... [more]

• Things aren't looking particularly rosy for markets and the economy, Jamie Dimon said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. "The odds of a soft landing, the market kind of prices in 70%. I think it's half of that," the JPMorgan chief said..... [more]

• Apple accused by Congo over conflict minerals in iPhones. Lawyers representing DRC allege Apple’s products contain illegally exported minerals, despite tech company’s claims of environmental and social responsibility.... [more]

• Comcast beat first-quarter earnings expectations on Thursday as broadband drove revenue even as the company and its peers have seen customer growth slow..... [more]

• Airbus posted weaker than expected first-quarter operating profit and cashflow partly after hiring more staff to prepare for rising demand, but reaffirmed its financial goals for 2024 after a nervous start to the year on industrial costs. The world's largest planemaker also announced a higher output target for its wide-body A350 model, of 12 a month in 2028, amid a renaissance in demand for long-haul jets..... [more]

• TikTok owner ByteDance would prefer shutting down its loss-making app rather than sell it if the Chinese company exhausts all legal options to fight legislation to ban the platform from app stores in the U.S., four sources said. The algorithms TikTok relies on for its operations are deemed core to ByteDance overall operations, which would make a sale of the app with algorithms highly unlikely, said the sources close to the parent..... [more]

• The CEO of Trump Media filed a letter on Tuesday urging House Republican committee heads to look into the possibility of illegal manipulation of the company's stock, which has plunged since it went public at the end of March..... [more]

• Caterpillar shares slump on sales warning as machinery demand cools.... [more]

• It could have been the first unionized Amazon warehouse in America. Now, three years later, workers are waiting to learn whether they'll get a third shot at a union election. A sweeping, months long hearing begins on Thursday to decide the fate of the unionization campaign at Amazon's facility in Bessemer, Alabama..... [more]

• Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) is launching a data platform that would help advertisers better reach their target audience across both cable and digital channels, it said on Thursday. The Olli platform will help advertisers target particular demographics with a new service called data-driven video, as clients look to maximize reach and deepen engagement..... [more]

• Meta shares plunge as Mark Zuckerberg's AI push spooks investors.... [more]

• Ford’s electric vehicle unit reported that losses soared in the first quarter to $1.3 billion, or $132,000 for each of the 10,000 vehicles it sold in the first three months of the year, helping to drag down earnings for the company overall..... [more]

• Mining giant BHP Billiton makes $39 billion bid for Anglo American to expand copper operations.... [more]

• Honda to build $11 billion electric vehicle hub in Canada.... [more]

• European Union officials have raided the offices of Chinese security equipment maker Nuctech as part of a probe into subsidies, exposing rising tensions between the bloc and one of its biggest trading partners..... [more]

• ECB's Panetta calls for timely, small rate cuts.... [more]

• The FTSE 100 has hit a new all-time highest closing price, as the value of the pound tumbled against the US dollar to hand firms on Britain’s top stock market index a boost..... [more]

• Britain's finance ministry has named financial services executive Liz Oakes to the Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee and reappointed former Bank of Canada official Carolyn Wilkins to a second three-year term, the BoE said on Thursday..... [more]

• Fears interest rate cuts will be delayed after inflation falls less than expected.... [more]

• Tata Steel has rejected a plan by unions to keep open a blast furnace at the Port Talbot steelworks, ending any hopes of avoiding as many as 2,800 job losses. Unions met the company in London on Thursday with another plea not to press ahead with its proposals, which will likely end the ability to make steel from iron ore in south Wales by September and cause thousands of job losses..... [more]

• Boycotts aren't the only way to hold companies accountable. A growing group of conscious consumers have found other strategies to keep companies honest..... [more]

• TikTok is gearing up for a legal fight against a U.S. law that would force the social media platform to break ties with its China-based parent company, a move almost certainly backed by Chinese authorities as the bitter U.S.-China rivalry threatens the future of a wildly popular way for young people in America to connect online..... [more]

• US sell-or-ban law against TikTok stirs unease in China as Beijing, social media giant ByteDance stay mum on next moves.... [more]

• Yen Weakens Past Key 155 Level, Adding to Intervention Risk.... [more]

• The financial crisis of 2008 showed just how much the world depends on banks being well run. Since then, regulators have been given new powers to keep some of the biggest institutions on a much shorter leash to stamp out risk, greed and corruption. But this approach hasn’t worked everywhere. On April 11, 2024, a businesswoman in Vietnam was sentenced to death for taking out US$44 billion in fraudulent loans from one of the country’s biggest banks..... [more]

• Sri Lankan shares end higher as financials, industrials gain.... [more]

• India surpasses China as the largest market for electric three-wheelers, reports IEA.... [more]