Market Reports

• Australian Market Report: The Australian sharemarket extended its losses on Thursday as uncertainty over the Iran war hangs over investors. The S&P/ASX 200 fell 50.2 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 8793.40. The Australian dollar dropped 0.1 per cent to US71.53¢..... [more]

• U.S. Market Report: Wall Street's main indexes were flat on Thursday, as investors awaited clear signals on the U.S.-Iran war, while ​a batch of mixed earnings reignited concerns about AI-driven disruption across the software sector..... [more]

• European Market Report: After languishing in negative territory till well past noon, European stocks staged a fairly good recovery in the final hour to end on a mixed note on Thursday. Investors largely kept their focus on corporate earnings updates..... [more]

• Asian Market Report: Asian stocks retreated on Thursday as oil prices continued to surge amid the ongoing closure of the critical Strait of Hormuz..... [more]

Australian Business News

• New research from property analytics firm Cotality appears to show that a federal government scheme intended to help first home buyers is fuelling a price surge at the lower end of the housing market, raising concerns.... [more]

• Commonwealth Bank is cutting 119 jobs, saying the reductions are the result of programs inside the bank coming to an end, work being “simplified” and a changing mix of skills and roles needed across the group..... [more]

• Are Australian stocks finally cheap? Morningstar thinks so. Morningstar sees broad undervaluation across the market – and highlights where to look for opportunities..... [more]

• Rainmaker Information has released its Market Entry Report focused on the Australian investment management market, detailing the “size, structure and evolution” of the local wealth management scene and superannuation system..... [more]

• WA Gold has put some beefy numbers on its 100 per cent owned Abercromby gold project near Wiluna in Western Australia’s north-eastern goldfields, with a new scoping study pointing to a low-capex, staged start-up option.... [more]

• BHP’s share of third-quarter copper sales volumes is 340,000 metric tons, down 11% on the same quarter last year, while Western Australian Iron Ore, or WAIO, sales of 59 million metric tons are flat..... [more]

• Heavier taxes on oil and gas producers will scupper new projects, reduce Australia’s relevance and expose it to “a more dangerous world”, business groups say, as modelling shows a $US11 billion jump in Petroleum Resource Rent Tax.... [more]

• Newmont Shares Up 110% On Year Into Earnings: What To Expect.... [more]

• Dalaroo Metals is taking a fresh look at the critical minerals potential of south-west Greenland, moving beyond the shoreline to test whether the ocean floor holds a massive accumulation of rare earths and heavy minerals..... [more]

• NexGen expands high-grade uranium zone at Patterson Corridor East.... [more]

• Viva Energy boss tells Alan Kohler that Australia needs more oil refineries for fuel security.... [more]

• The decades-long legal battle that saw the descendants of iron ore pioneer Peter Wright claim victory against Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting will soon land in the hands of its fourth judge, as a row over the calculation.... [more]

• Cochlear (ASX: COH) shares opened 32% lower at a decade low of $113 after the hearing implant maker cut FY26 underlying net profit guidance by roughly 30% at the midpoint..... [more]

• Microsoft unveils $25b AI splurge in Australia, but key details missing.... [more]

• The founder of Australia’s pioneering online retail sales event says he is “shattered” and “embarrassed” after the company’s shock collapse. Grant Arnott, founder of Click Frenzy and Power Retail,.... [more]

• Perth biotech at cutting edge of the future of medicine.... [more]

• Cochlear stock down 40%: How much has this cost ASX investors?.... [more]

• Imugene Ltd (ASX:IMU, OTC:IUGNF, FRA:ILA) has secured overwhelming shareholder support for a series of funding-related resolutions at its extraordinary general meeting (EGM), clearing the way for the completion of a $16 million.... [more]

• An Australian travel giant caught in a $240 million overcharging scandal has revealed signed agreements with a UK customer may have been faked. Brisbane-based Corporate Travel Management .... [more]

• Opinion - Greg Jericho: Capital gains tax changes are on the table, and yet Armageddon has not arrived. Has the tide on housing turned at last?.... [more]

World Business News

• Oil rises 3%, Brent tops $104 as Hormuz ship attacks, U.S. blockade stoke tensions.... [more]

• Why Diesel Has Become a Much Bigger Economic Problem Than Gasoline. The war in Iran has disrupted supplies of diesel, used to power trucks and heavy equipment, much more than gasoline, which is primarily used in passenger cars..... [more]

• Average US long-term mortgage rate slips to 6.23%, its third weekly drop.... [more]

• US labor market stable despite war, but inflation pressures building up.... [more]

• A top BlackRock strategist shares the 4 biggest market trends she's watching, and how to invest in each. In a whiplash-inducing market, it can be helpful to hear to what an experienced veteran has to say about where to look.... [more]

• Trump’s meme coin is down 80% since his first event promoting it. He’s holding another gala for it this weekend..... [more]

• Foreign entities primarily based in China have conducted “industrial-scale” campaigns to crib frontier AI models from US companies, Michael Kratsios, White House director of the office of science and technology policy, said in a memo.... [more]

• Tesla's earnings rise, but AI expenses are adding up.... [more]

• Tesla is in a no-win situation as it faces the ire of its earliest customers. The company plans to replace old vehicle computers under a plan that one analyst said seemed ‘expensive and perhaps not even sensible’.... [more]

• Comcast topped Wall Street’s revenue and earnings estimates for the first quarter on Thursday, lifted by NBC’s sports slate in February and improving broadband customer losses..... [more]

• Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders approve $110B merger with Paramount Skydance.... [more]

• What a combined Paramount-Warner would mean. HBO Max, “Harry Potter” and CNN may soon find themselves under a new roof: Paramount..... [more]

• A ​lawyer for Spirit Airlines confirmed on Thursday the bankrupt carrier is in advanced discussions with the federal government on terms of ‌financing to help the airline restructure. Marshall Huebner, an outside lawyer for Spirit.... [more]

• Griffin considers scrapping $6B NYC project after mayor’s tax video.... [more]

• US to loosen marijuana rules. The move does not legalize marijuana across the United States, but it is likely to reshape the $47 billion industry.... [more]

• OpenAI is burning billions — and an IPO won’t stave off bankruptcy. OpenAI’s business doesn’t begin to cover its costs meaning it could be forced to file for bankruptcy as early as 2027.... [more]

• Avis Budget Group, the car rental company that lost nearly $1 billion last year and is carrying more than $6 billion in debt, was the latest target of retail traders looking for the next market-breaking short-squeeze this week..... [more]

• The Gates Foundation has launched an independent investigation into ties between the philanthropic organization and Jeffrey Epstein. The foundation, which provides billions of dollars in charitable donations, said in a statement.... [more]

• Artificial intelligence (AI) is flattening the jobs market for young people and governments should eliminate National Insurance to make hiring workers more attractive, former prime minister Rishi Sunak has told the BBC..... [more]

• More than 200,000 people have called on ministers to break contracts with Palantir in an apparent groundswell of public concern about the US tech company’s role in the NHS, police, military and councils..... [more]

• The boss of McDonald’s in the UK has vowed to keep investing in restaurants and staff despite tough “headwinds”forcing many firms to cut costs and trim their workforces..... [more]

• BP’s board has suffered a triple climate rebellion in its first shareholder meeting since appointing new leadership to steer the embattled oil company. More than 50% of shareholders voting at the company’s annual general meeting.... [more]

• Online fashion retailer Asos is seeking refunds from the US for the £7m worth of tariffs it paid in the first half of its financial year. In February, the US Supreme Court struck down the so-called "Liberation Day" tariffs.... [more]

• Greece to be overtaken by Italy as euro zone's most indebted country in 2026, sources say.... [more]

• Heineken has reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter revenues and volumes, but the Dutch brewing giant warns that escalating energy costs and inflation, exacerbated by the conflict in the Middle East, could dampen future .... [more]

• France’s Vinci reports robust revenue growth amid strong orders and energy growth.... [more]

• Monte dei Paschi to give board roles to reinstated CEO's supporters, source says.... [more]

• The European Commission plans to deliver a proposal in July to overhaul the Emissions Trading System after 2030. The bloc is targeting a deal between member states and the European Parliament on the final shape of the reform.... [more]

• Chinese economist Fu Peng joins Hong Kong-listed Bitfire, hails crypto’s historic rise. The crypto asset management firm acquires a trading system and hires a team of 20 people from Avenir Group for US$1.6 million.... [more]

• PwC to pay US$128 million to Evergrande minority shareholders over audit failures. Settlement marks first time auditors of a defunct firm compensate minority shareholders over misleading financial statements.... [more]

• Singapore's CapitaLand Investment wins $1.9 billion Income Insurance real estate mandate.... [more]

• Japan’s Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama warned that officials are in close contact around the clock with their US counterparts as Tokyo remains on high alert over speculative moves that are keeping the yen weak..... [more]

• Japanese insurer Nippon Life's Indian asset management ‌unit will pay a fine to settle allegations by Indian regulators that the fund fraudulently invested in bonds from lender Yes Bank,.... [more]

• India's Mahindra Logistics (MALO.NS), on Thursday posted a six-fold sequential rise in fourth-quarter profit, aided ​by stronger performance in its contract logistics ‌business and progress in turning around its express operations..... [more]