Market Reports

• Australian Market Report: The Australian sharemarket powered ahead on Wednesday. The S&P/ASX 200 finished up 61.3 points, or 0.7 per cent, at 8785.70. The Australian dollar slipped 0.3 per cent to US71.56¢..... [more]

• U.S. Market Report: Wall Street's main indexes ​retreated on Wednesday after a run of record highs, while a fresh Middle East flare-up pushed oil prices higher and ‌cast doubts over a quick end to the war..... [more]

• European Market Report: European stocks closed lower on Wednesday as concerns about Middle East tensions and worries about fresh tariff threat by the United State rendered the mood bearish. Investors also reacted to the regional PMI data..... [more]

• Asian Market Report: Asian stocks ended mixed on Wednesday as renewed enthusiasm for artificial intelligence offset uncertainty over U.S.-Iran negotiations aimed at ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.... [more]

Australian Business News

• Australia’s economy grew by 0.3% in the first three months of 2026, slowing from 0.9% growth at the end of 2025, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures..... [more]

• Australia is among dozens of countries facing a 12.5% trade tariff from the Trump administration for allegedly failing to prevent imports of goods made by slave labour..... [more]

• How much more can renters take?: Grim predictions renters can no longer afford hikes..... [more]

• Property or shares? How the new CGT and negative gearing changes have transformed the investing landscape. Australia’s biggest investment tax shake-up in decades is changing the rules for property and shares..... [more]

• Treasurer Jim Chalmers has seized on a splurge of business spending into data centres as evidence the private sector is driving Australia’s economy. The tech cash splash helped push business investment up 10.5%in the year to March.... [more]

• A crisis of financial confidence has taken hold of Australians when it comes to retirement, according to the latest edition of Colonial First State’s (CFS’) annual Rethinking Retirement report, as many remain largely concerned.... [more]

• ASX IPOs: May delivers four new listings, June set for six more. Four new names hit the ASX in May, taking 2026 listings to 16, and June is shaping up as the busiest month yet, with six more..... [more]

• We take a look at the most popular global ETFs and the investors they may suit..... [more]

• WA Gold Limited has wasted little time turning its attention back to the drill bit after mapping out a low-capital pathway for its Abercromby gold project near Wiluna, with the company now lining up multiple priority gold targets .... [more]

• In what Ardea Resources insists is a shrewd value-improving move, the company has pushed back the completion timeline for its definitive feasibility study (DFS) at the globally significant Goongarrie Hub nickel-cobalt project.... [more]

• Gold reserves at Kalgoorlie Super Pit continue to grow with millions spent on underground drilling.... [more]

• Pacgold Limited has unveiled a strategic demerger of its non-core North Queensland gold assets, relinquishing control to roll the projects into a soon-to-be-listed and powerfully backed Manda Resources..... [more]

• Nova Minerals clears final hurdle for US redomicile as court approves scheme.... [more]

• Latitude 66 (ASX: LAT) has received promising final gold assay results from the phase two RC drilling at the Tin Dog and Red Dog prospects at the Laverton gold project in WA..... [more]

• Litchfield Minerals has delivered an encouraging clutch of broad copper-zinc-silver hits from phase three reverse circulation (RC) drilling at its Oonagalabi base metals project in the Harts Range region.... [more]

• Gateway Mining has strengthened the case for a district-scale gold discovery at its flagship 1780-square-kilometre Yandal gold project in Western Australia after reporting a string of high-grade first-pass intercepts.... [more]

• Data centre boom could spike power prices up to 26%.... [more]

• Cynata Therapeutics has received a Positive Opinion from the European Medicines Agency’s Paediatric Committee (PDCO) on its Paediatric Investigation Plan (PIP) for CYP-001 in acute graft versus host disease (aGvHD)..... [more]

• While hardware retailer Bunnings has retained the mantle of Australia’s for the third consecutive year, distrust of AI is coming to the fore. It may have come as little surprise when Roy Morgan research on Wednesday revealed.... [more]

• Another 151 research positions axed at CSIRO despite $387M federal budget boost.... [more]

• KPMG Australia chief operating officer Eileen Hoggett will step aside while investigations are pending into an audit leak scandal at the big-four firm..... [more]

• Comment - Greg Jericho: Australia’s GDP figures are meaningless when the boom in datacentres means destroying jobs and the climate. In the March quarter Australia’s economy grew 0.3%. But the real issue is what drove that growth.... [more]

• Analysis - Michael Janda: Australians have become housing hostages. Will the budget set them free? Australians have been held hostage to the housing market for the better part of this century..... [more]

• Analysis - Bernd Struben: Why did the Bitcoin price just plunge more than 7%? The Bitcoin price has crashed 37% over the last year. But why is it falling again today?.... [more]

World Business News

• Oil prices look to end at highest levels in over a week: ‘Oil tanks are getting emptier each week Hormuz stays closed’.... [more]

• US job openings are at their highest level in nearly two years.... [more]

• Trump is quietly rebuilding his tariff engine. Trump’s quiet, methodical, patient new approach to tariffs is on purpose. The tools he’s now using to rebuild his tariff engine are far more precise than the last ones..... [more]

• More frustrated home sellers were giving up, right in the midst of the all-important spring market, according to new data. Nationwide, 5.8% of all home listings were pulled off the market in April, according to Redfin.... [more]

• Meta Platforms (META.O), on Wednesday unveiled an artificial intelligence agent aimed at helping businesses carry out day-to-day operations, positioning the social media giant as a player in the enterprise AI market..... [more]

• Morgan Stanley will soon open its trillion-dollar wealth management funnel to AI agents.... [more]

• Alphabet (GOOGL.O), has increased the size of its equity offerings to $84.75 billion, in a sign of strong investor appetite ​for big tech companies as they expand their ‌AI infrastructure and computing power..... [more]

• People are flooding AI chatbots with health questions. Microsoft is teaming up with Mayo Clinic to help. Tens of millions of people are turning to artificial intelligence for questions they once asked “Dr. Google.”.... [more]

• Bank of America CEO says AI spending is paying for itself.... [more]

• SpaceX plans to set IPO price at $135 per share, targeting record $75 billion raise.... [more]

• Looking to buy into the SpaceX IPO? This scary chart might make you think twice. Stock performance following previous major tech IPOs has been less than stellar.... [more]

• Tesla (TSLA.O), said on Wednesday it was rolling out its unsupervised robotaxis in the ​Austin Metro area in Texas, as the ‌electric-vehicle maker looks to speed up its autonomous ride-hailing operation..... [more]

• Macy’s reported its fourth consecutive quarter of comparable sales gains as the department store said an overhaul of its merchandise and better customer service is resonating with customers..... [more]

• Marvell’s stock is on a run not seen in a quarter-century as the tech company grows in stature.... [more]

• ZoomInfo options trading surges to over 20,000 contracts.... [more]

• EU could lose 1.3 million jobs due to energy price surge linked to Iran war, Commission says.... [more]

• European Union launches tech sovereignty initiative to boost chips, cloud and AI at home. The 27-nation bloc unveiled a “tech sovereignty” package on Wednesday with measures to promote homegrown European alternatives to Big Tech.... [more]

• UK government to pay £1.3bn to help fund Universal Studios theme park in Bedfordshire. Chancellor hails deal saying it will create tens of thousands of jobs in the construction, hospitality, creative and technology sectors.... [more]

• British multinational Shell continued operating a major oil pipeline in Nigeria for years even though it knew it was causing widespread pollution - despite a warning from its own staff and its own technical standards.... [more]

• Nissan maps out deal to build cars for China’s Chery at its Sunderland plant. Non-binding agreement to start assembling vehicles in 2027 would safeguard jobs at UK’s largest car factory.... [more]

• Car supplier Valeo shares soar on bets over data centre growth.... [more]

• Too many people face a "cliff-edge drop in income" when they retire, with more than three-quarters not on course to save enough for a "moderate" lifestyle, a pensions trade body has warned..... [more]

• EU proposes disciplinary action against Bulgaria over excessive deficit.... [more]

• The Swiss government on Wednesday rejected U.S. findings on how dozens of economies, including Switzerland, deal with goods produced by ​forced labour, a probe that prompted Washington to threaten trading partners with fresh ‌tariffs..... [more]

• Xi closes the door after promising US CEOs to open wider. The billionaire CEOs who accompanied US President Donald Trump to Beijing last month are probably feeling some whiplash..... [more]

• China's DeepSeek reportedly raising $7 billion.... [more]

• Tesla’s China sales surge to 2026 high, but rivals crowd the rear-view mirror. Tesla’s China sales rebounded in May on financing incentives and stronger demand, but local competitors are gaining momentum.... [more]

• BOJ’s Ueda Signals Good Chance of June Hike as Price Risks Rise.... [more]

• The Indonesian parliament's financial commission and the government agreed at a hearing on Wednesday to reform the laws relating to the country's ​financial system and expand the mandate of the central bank.... [more]

• India Said to Ready Tax Cut Plans to Attract Foreign Bond Buyers.... [more]

• The rupee weakened for a second straight session on Wednesday, falling 40 paise to close at 95.76 against the US dollar amid concerns over proposed US tariffs.... [more]

• Comment - Saqib Iqbal Ahmed and Michelle Price: Guilty verdict against Andrew Left to shake up activist short-selling playbook. Raising fresh questions about the line ​between legitimate market activism and stock manipulation..... [more]