Market Reports

• Australian Market Report: The Australian sharemarket notched up another small gain on Wednesday, following global markets higher. The S&P/ASX 200 inched up 7.9 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 8978.70. The Australian dollar was up 0.2% at US71.39¢ .... [more]

• U.S. Market Report: The S&P 500 (.SPX), touched an intraday record high on Wednesday, its first since the U.S.-Iran conflict began, as hopes of a de-escalation in the war ​and robust earnings expectations drew investors back into risk assets..... [more]

• European Market Report: European markets closed mostly weak on Wednesday as investors reacted to a slew of corporate earnings updates and looked ahead to a second round of U.S.-Iran peace talks, proposed to be held later in the week..... [more]

• Asian Market Report: Asian stocks followed Wall Street higher to hit a six-week high on Wednesday amid optimism over renewed U.S.-Iran talks..... [more]

Australian Business News

• Treasurer Jim Chalmers is being warned not to use the budget to deliver cost-of-living handouts to deal with the inflation fuelled by the Iran war, with the International Monetary Fund fearful the globe could be pushed into a recession.... [more]

• Some energy analysts are questioning the federal government's temporary tax cuts on fuel, warning that lower prices will work against Australia's rising need to conserve oil and hamper the push towards electrification..... [more]

• Super funds urge data sharing framework with Govt agencies.... [more]

• ASX insiders get back to buying in volatile March quarter - who's been making moves? Want to know who is buying and selling their own stock?.... [more]

• Do you need both IVV and NDQ in your portfolio? A closer look at the illusion of choice in a concentrated market..... [more]

• TechnologyOne is the lone bright spot in a brutal year for ASX tech. Tech stocks appear to have found a fragile floor after tumbling ~50% from September 2025 highs..... [more]

• Industry funds stalwart and the current chief executive of Victoria’s ESSSuper, Robbie Campo, has been appointed as chief executive of big health sector fund, HESTA..... [more]

• Labor is moving to streamline import rules for fertiliser as the Albanese governments scrambles to shore up supply in response to Iran war shocks..... [more]

• Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting to pay hundreds of millions’ worth of royalties to rival family in ‘half loss half win’.... [more]

• Larvotto Resources is on track and on budget for a mid-2026 production startup at its Hillgrove antimony-gold project in New South Wales. The mine is shaping up to become a major supplier of antimony.... [more]

• TMK Energy has seized the spotlight at the prestigious SEAPEX Conference in Manila, flinging open its data room and formally kicking off a farm-out process for its Gurvantes XXXV coal seam gas project in Mongolia..... [more]

• Mixed reaction to Chinese-backed company's purchase of Kestrel Coal Mine.... [more]

• EV Resources (ASX:EVR) has made an exploration breakthrough at Los Lirios this month, defining a large-scale, shallow carbonate replacement (CRD) style antimony system at the 70% owned Mexican project..... [more]

• Forrestania hits surface niobium in first-ever Malawian tilt.... [more]

• Tennant Minerals (ASX: TMS) is up more than 33% after drilling a significant intersection to further expand its promising Bluebird copper-gold discovery within the Barkly project in the Northern Territory..... [more]

• Terrain Minerals’ Lightning prospect, which forms part of its Smokebush gold project, has burst to life with a set of cracking gold hits fuelling confidence the system is bigger than first thought and primed to grow along strike.... [more]

• Behind the coal miner v BHP – 20,000 miners and a bunch of giant mining corporations.... [more]

• Lumos Diagnostics Holdings Ltd (ASX:LDX, OTC:LDXHF) has locked in the timing for its March quarter update and investor briefing, while reminding shareholders that its current capital raising is approaching its closing date..... [more]

• Virgin raises fares, cuts capacity as fuel prices soar.... [more]

• Why are Telix shares sinking 7.5% today?.... [more]

• Australian financial giant Latitude Finance Australia has been fined almost $4 million after regulators found it had racked up a staggering number of spam breaches..... [more]

• Australian auto manufacturing is back – on two wheels instead of four, and all electric. As oil prices soar from the US and Israel’s war with Iran, Melbourne-based Savic Motorcycles is positioning itself as an answer to hip-pocket pain.... [more]

• Opinion - Stephen Bartholomeusz: The International Monetary Fund has produced some scenarios for what might happen when the war on Iran, and its impact on global energy supplies and prices, ends. .... [more]

• Comment/Opinion - Greg Jericho: The IMF refuses to name the cause of this global chaos. It starts with ‘Donald’ and ends in ‘Trump’.... [more]

World Business News

• Don't call it a comeback: 3 reasons why stocks have clawed back Iran-war losses.... [more]

• U.S. Treasury ​Secretary Scott Bessent said on ‌Wednesday that the economy will be slower this quarter amid the ​Iran war, but it ​is in good shape and ⁠will rebound, adding that ​oil prices do not appear ​to be weighing on inflation.... [more]

• Once again, Trump threatens to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell.... [more]

• Morgan Stanley on Wednesday posted first-quarter results that topped analyst estimates as the firm’s trading operations generated almost $1 billion more in revenue than expected..... [more]

• Bank of America (BAC.N), beat estimates for first-quarter profit, as heightened market volatility pushed revenue from equities trading to a record and a rebound in mergers and acquisitions boosted investment banking fees..... [more]

• A top JPMorgan strategist brushes off private credit worries and says big money investors are still piling in.... [more]

• United Airlines faces Senate pushback on potential American Airlines takeover.... [more]

• The rumored merger talks between United and American Airlines could create an unprecedented concentration of power in the commercial aviation industry. The airline created by merging the No. 1 and No. 2 carriers.... [more]

• World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture co-founded by President Trump and ​his sons, released a new proposal Wednesday that would prevent early investors from trading tokens – 80% of their holdings are currently locked.... [more]

• Is Tesla a chip stock now? Investors are cheering a semiconductor milestone..... [more]

• Allbirds shares soar 600% as it pivots from footwear to AI.... [more]

• Shares of Nike rallied Wednesday after company CEO Elliott Hill and Apple CEO Tim Cook, a Nike board member, spent more of their own money to boost their stakes in the athletic-gear giant.... [more]

• A jury has found that concert giant Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary had a harmful monopoly over big concert venues, dealing the company a loss in a lawsuit over claims brought by dozens of U.S. states..... [more]

• Apple could win the AI race without running.... [more]

• Alphabet Poised for $100 Billion Windfall on SpaceX Investment.... [more]

• New York governor pitches a new tax on pricey pied-à-terres.... [more]

• Snap is the latest tech company to cut jobs, citing the growing ability of artificial intelligence (AI) tools. The Snapchat owner has axed about 1,000 employees - 16% of staff - and withdrawn hundreds of open job roles.... [more]

• The incoming head of the Bank of England's prudential arm said on Wednesday she would not push for further changes to Britain’s bank ring‑fencing rules. Katharine Braddick, ​formerly a Barclays bank executive,.... [more]

• The impact of the Iran war on inflation and economic growth will linger even if an end to the conflict is found, Rachel Reeves and fellow finance ministers have warned. In a joint statement with international counterparts,.... [more]

• $30m an hour: big oil reaping huge war windfall from consumers, analysis finds. Climate action blockers including Saudi Arabia, Russia and major fossil fuel firms set to make extra $234bn by end of 2026.... [more]

• Thames Water 'sleepwalking' into bad deal for customers, investor says.... [more]

• Although Germany is not ‌involved in the Iran war, the country is feeling its economic impact directly, German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said on Wednesday. Asked about the government's forecasts which will be presented next week.... [more]

• Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL), China’s electric vehicle (EV) battery king, plans to earmark 30 billion yuan (US$4.4 billion) to establish a subsidiary to manage and expand mining assets.... [more]

• Founder of China property giant Evergrande pleads guilty to fraud.... [more]

• Don’t believe claims Southeast Asia scam schemes were shut down. Illegal industry accounting for two fifths of Cambodia’s GDP pauses for raids and then resumes operations in the same place or elsewhere.... [more]

• Global funds fuel Hong Kong IPO rebound as investors rebalance China portfolios: HKEX.... [more]

• India's gems and jewellery exports in the 2025/26 fiscal year dipped 3.3% from a year earlier to ​their lowest level in five years, as shipments ‌to top buyer the U.S. nearly halved, a leading trade body said on Wednesday,.... [more]