Market Reports

• Australian Market Report: Stocks in Australia gained ground to end the week higher after eight sessions of daily losses, with miners riding commodity prices upwards, the ANZ bank unveiling a $3.8 billion half-year profit.... [more]

• U.S. Market Report: U.S. stocks moved higher on Friday after turning the page on their biggest monthly percentage gains in years, boosted by robust earnings and ​a dip in crude prices, with developments in the Middle East rumbling in the background..... [more]

• European Market Report: The UK stock market's benchmark index FTSE 100 fell on Friday, weighed down by losses in financial and mining sectors.... [more]

• Asian Market Report: Asian bourses closed on a positive note on Friday, tracking Wall Street's strong performance on Thursday. Gains were limited as markets suspected currency market interventions by the Japanese government..... [more]

Australian Business News

• Mortgage holders should expect more interest rate pain, as the central bank has “no choice” but to lift the cash rate next Tuesday. In a grim warning for households, a poll of economists and industry experts by comparison site.... [more]

• ‘Keep pace with the modern world’: Unions push for four-day work week in radical workplace relations overhaul..... [more]

• National home prices have recorded the slowest growth in more than a year, rising just 0.3 per cent in April. While every capital city was affected by the change of pace, according to data from Cotality, the real drivers were.... [more]

• The consumer discretionary sector has been singled out by long-only fund manager, Datt Capital, as one likely to suffer most from a potential third consecutive rate hike by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA)..... [more]

• Labor should funnel any revenue from scaling back negative gearing or capital gains tax concessions into income tax cuts, Australia's top productivity adviser says..... [more]

• No growth, no problem. The case for private credit in a stagflationary environment. Equities need growth. Bonds need falling rates. Property development needs both. Stagflation delivers neither..... [more]

• Private Credit headwinds move onshore. How the US private credit problem will play out in Australia..... [more]

• Is there still opportunity in ASX media shares? In recent years, ASX media shares have faced significant volatility. Investor sentiment has soured as structural disruption, declining audience numbers, and unstable advertising revenue.... [more]

• Sequoia Financial Group has confirmed that it has called off the sale of its financial planning business, InterPrac. The company has announced to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) that it has terminated the Share Sale Agreement.... [more]

• Forrestania Resources has rung the till with a maiden inferred mineral resource of 58,700 ounces of gold at its Burracoppin project near Merredin in WA. The small but shallow resource is strategically positioned.... [more]

• Godolphin Resources raising $2.5m through strongly supported placement to fund Lewis Ponds drilling.... [more]

• Liontown Shares Leads ASX 200 Today as Price Hits Three-Year High.... [more]

• Kaiser Reef has ramped up throughput at its Porcupine Flat processing plant in Victoria, successfully transitioning to a two-shift operation at its Maldon gold project. The move to 24-hour processing from Monday to Thursday.... [more]

• Qantas, Jetstar extend domestic cuts, trim NZ flights as fuel crisis bites.... [more]

• Maritana Minerals has clocked up a solid March quarter, significantly bulking up its cash position and nudging its Black Swan processing hub closer to the starting line as it pivots from a developer to a long-term producer..... [more]

• The Chinese-owned company which owns Darwin port has launched international legal action to try and stop the federal government from stripping it of the strategically sensitive asset..... [more]

• Lumos Diagnostics raises $265,000 through share purchase plan as FebriDx rollout gathers pace.... [more]

• Syntara (ASX: SNT) has just announced a positive outcome from its in‑person Type C meeting with the US FDA, giving the green light to the Phase 2b trial design for its lead asset, amsulostat, in myelofibrosis..... [more]

• Aldi claims Roy Morgan’s ‘supermarket of the year’ award for sixth time in a row.... [more]

• Calls grow to ban Palantir in Australia after manifesto described by UK MP as ‘ramblings of a supervillain’. Spy tech firm says it’s just ‘a software company’ amid pressure for a ban on new contracts with government agencies.... [more]

• Analysis - David Taylor: Bond yields at crisis level as Australian government's 10-Year Treasury rate passes 5 per cent. Australia has close to $1 trillion in gross debt, and the cost of paying it off is soaring..... [more]

• Analysis - Michael Atkin: ACCC case against Woolworths winds up as spotlight remains on integrity of grocery pricing.... [more]

• Opinion - Millie Muroi: Housing isn’t just a young people problem. We know how this story ends. When we debate intergenerational fairness, it often looks like younger Australians lamenting.... [more]

• Opinion - Matt McKee: Energy shocks are a warning: Energy security now defines economic security. With conflict again sending shockwaves through global oil and energy markets, and increasing our prices for everyday goods.... [more]

World Business News

• The World Trade Organization is set to cut about 10% of its spending - including ​hiring freezes and reductions in short‑term staff - after the U.S. fell back into arrears and a growing number of members ‌failed to pay their dues on time.... [more]

• Blockbuster Oil Company Profits Revive Calls for Windfall Tax. European nations imposed temporary taxes in the 2022 energy shock when Russia invaded Ukraine, but whether they can effectively help households is up for debate..... [more]

• Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), beat estimates for adjusted earnings on Friday, helped by higher output in Guyana and the Permian Basin, though net income dropped to its lowest level ​in five years due to global supply disruptions.... [more]

• The Fed subtly signaled that only rate cuts are on the table. Some Fed officials are crying foul.... [more]

• New Fed chair Warsh will have a fight on his hands if he pushes for interest-rate cuts. Statements from three officials show inflation fears are giving them cold feet about any more rate cuts.... [more]

• Mark Zandi would like to remind you that the stock market is not the economy. Moody's top economist has been bearish on his outlook for the US all year, and he sees a disconnect forming between economic realities and.... [more]

• Apple posted strong results for its quarterly earnings on Thursday, but investors’ attention is also focused on the upcoming CEO change and the tech firm’s artificial intelligence strategy..... [more]

• The Department of Defense announced Friday an agreement with seven major technology companies to use their artificial intelligence tools in its classified networks. Not included: Anthropic.... [more]

• President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration gave a “final” bailout proposal for Spirit Airlines as the budget carrier could be forced to liquidate without a lifeline..... [more]

• Spirit Airlines is reportedly preparing to cease operations, joining the graveyard of failed U.S. air carriers — including icons like Pan Am and Eastern Airlines — as it has not been able to identify a path out of its second bankruptcy..... [more]

• Qualcomm stock surges 20% after earnings tease a mystery chip deal.... [more]

• Roblox had a child-safety problem. Now it has a revenue problem. The gaming platform lowered its annual revenue projections, saying new age-verification programs have caused engagement to drop.... [more]

• The Onion's bid to take over Infowars moves to the Texas Supreme Court.... [more]

• Smoothie King plots expansion as wellness trends boost sales.... [more]

• OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma is set to dissolve and be replaced with a new company operating in the public interest under the settlement of thousands of lawsuits that goes into effect Friday..... [more]

• Elon Musk’s courtroom showdown with Sam Altman started this week. The biggest takeaways so far.... [more]

• A subplot of the Musk-Altman trial: Which billionaires deserve the keys to the God machine? Elon Musk finally shared an opinion that a lot of people can agree on: Microsoft should not control the future of AI..... [more]

• Canadian dollar slips but posts fourth straight weekly gain.... [more]

• U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he would increase tariffs on cars and trucks from the ​European Union to 25% next week, saying the bloc had not complied with its trade deal with Washington..... [more]

• Donald Trump has said he is tearing up part of the tariff deal he struck with EU leaders at his golf course in Scotland last summer, criticising Brussels for taking so long to ratify the deal..... [more]

• EU warns it will protect interests if US breaches trade deal.... [more]

• Financial firms surveyed by the Bank of England ​last month did not expect ‌the central bank to raise interest rates this year, though they ​no longer expected rates to ​be cut, according to a ⁠poll released by the BoE ​on Friday..... [more]

• NatWest earnings boosted despite gloomier outlook for UK economy.... [more]

• There is no evidence of widespread price-gouging by UK fuel retailers in the weeks after the US-Israel war with Iran began, the competition watchdog has said. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said.... [more]

• BP has come under fire after revealing profits more than doubled in the first three months of the year, thanks to the soaring cost of crude caused by the Iran war. Chief executive Meg O’Neill praised the quarter.... [more]

• The British defence company Ultra Electronics has accepted responsibility for a failure to prevent bribery and agreed to pay £15m after an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office..... [more]

• Spain's Sabadell completes sale of UK's TSB to Santander.... [more]

• Czech energy group hints at combined bid for British Steel and Speciality Steel UK. Exclusive: Sev.en Global Investments could turn state-owned businesses into Britain’s biggest steelmaker.... [more]

• China will scrap tariffs for all African countries from Friday – except Eswatini, which maintains ties with Taiwan. As of December 2024, China had already implemented a duty-free policy for 33 least-developed African nations..... [more]

• Battered Chinese property stocks primed for comeback as industry shows signs of turning. Early signs of a recovery present a buying opportunity for property stocks, which have been under pressure since home prices peaked in 2021.... [more]

• Asian currencies wilting in the Iran war’s heat.... [more]

• Japan may have spent as much as 5.48 ​trillion yen ($35 billion) bolstering its embattled currency, ‌central bank data indicated on Friday, following reports that Tokyo intervened on Thursday to arrest a sharp ​selloff in the yen..... [more]

• Yen Traders Alert After Japan’s $34.5 Billion Intervention.... [more]

• Is Saudi Arabia's sports revolution unravelling?.... [more]

• Analysis/Opinion - Ankur Banerjee and Amanda Cooper: Investors are running out of time to brace for true oil shock. In thrall to an AI boom that has sent stocks to record highs and harbouring hopes of a short-lived Iran war,.... [more]