Market Reports

• Australian Market Report: The Australian sharemarket lost ground on Friday, after a slump in miners BHP and Northern Star, as ongoing uncertainty over the war in Iran kept the oil price close to $US100 a barrel. The S&P/ASX 200 fell 11.9 points or 0.1 per cent, closing at 8617.10, capping off another negative week for the bourse, as investors worried about the surge in oil prices and what it could mean for inflation..... [more]

• U.S. Market Report: Wall Street was lower on Friday as investors monitored developments in the war on Iran and ‌their potential effects on the global oil supply, nearing the end of a week in which markets whipsawed in tandem with crude prices..... [more]

• European Market Report: European markets closed lower on Friday, extending losses to a third straight session, as investors stayed reluctant to engage in any significant buying due to the ongoing conflict.... [more]

• Asian Market Report: Asian stocks declined on Friday as rising crude oil prices linked to geopolitical tensions rattled investors..... [more]

Australian Business News

• Government scrambles to ease Australian petrol shortages, but is not considering cut to fuel excise or GST, even as prices soar.... [more]

• Australia to release nearly 20% of fuel stockpile as Bowen insists country ‘nowhere near’ running out. Energy minister cuts fuel companies’ minimum stock obligations to free up diesel and petrol.... [more]

• Fuel standards relaxed to add 100 million litres of fuel to Australian supply.... [more]

• Millions of Australians are being “shortchanged” on the GST carve-up, state leaders have warned, while Western Australia’s share continues to rise. The Commonwealth Grants Commission on Friday released its recommendations.... [more]

• Australia’s budget bottom line could improve by nearly $200bn if a “truly cooked” tax break was removed. New Parliamentary Budget Office figures released on behalf of the Greens show the government is forgoing $190bn.... [more]

• Tech sell-off creates rare opportunity for investors.... [more]

• ‘Buy buy buy’: Market volatility sparks retail investor frenzy. While many investors may have panicked when $110 billion was wiped off the sharemarket in a matter of hours on Monday, setting the scene for a volatile week.... [more]

• The top 25% of self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) achieved rates of return of at least 13% over the five year period to the middle of 2024, compared with just 9.5% for the top 25% of funds.... [more]

• A regulatory safeguard designed to protect superannuation members may now be distorting Australia’s equity market. The structure of the Australian equity market is unique in the world.... [more]

• AI fears are hitting insurance stocks IAG, SUN and QBE — but is the market overreacting?.... [more]

• US dividend shares are getting a boost from the HALO trade. Can it last? Both high-dividend stocks and dividend-growth stocks are outperforming amid AI disruption..... [more]

• Horizon Minerals is lining up a low-risk run for its planned Black Swan gold processing hub restart in WA’s Goldfields. The company’s current phase of mining at Boorara was completed last December.... [more]

• Shares in Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO) are pushing higher in Friday midday trade. This comes despite news of a workplace accident at one of the company's major copper operations..... [more]

• Lodestar Minerals has identified visible copper sulphides in core from its maiden drill hole at its Three Saints copper and gold project in Chile, which is targeting a geophysical anomaly interpreted to show characteristics.... [more]

• Terrain Minerals is back on the drill pads at its fully owned Lort River rare earths project in the Albany Fraser belt, 50 kilometres northwest of Esperance in WA. The company has launched a critical follow-up aircore program .... [more]

• Terrain Minerals launches follow-up drilling at Lort River rare earths target.... [more]

• Felix Gold (ASX:FXG) has further extended the known antimony mineralisation footprint at the Treasure Creek project in Alaska with impressive new assays..... [more]

• Immutep (IMM) crashed 90%today after the Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC) recommended its flagship TACTI-004 Phase III trial be discontinued for futility. Shares had been suspended since March 6, .... [more]

• Qantas’ decision to initially refuse refunds for cancelled COVID-era flights and provide expiring credits instead has cost the airline more than $105 million after it agreed to settle a class action for that amount,.... [more]

• Comment - Jason Harris: What 2.5 million Australian company directors need to know about the scathing Star judgement. It’s one of the most important corporate governance cases in the past 20 years,.... [more]

World Business News

• Tracking gas and oil prices as war with Iran escalates.... [more]

• The US-Iran war continues to upend financial markets nearly two weeks after it began, and investors are seeking out safety trades amid the soaring volatility..... [more]

• U.S. job openings rose to nearly 7 million in January, better than expected at a time when the American labor market has looked sluggish. The 6.95 million job postings in January were up from 6.55 million in December.... [more]

• Traders bet on Fed rate cut by September.... [more]

• Mortgage rates surged to their highest level since September on Friday as bond yields moved higher due to the war in Iran. The average rate on the 30-year fixed loan hit 6.41%, according to Mortgage News Daily..... [more]

• President Donald Trump on Friday signed a pair of executive orders aimed at showing his commitment to improving home affordability — a key issue for many voters going into November’s election for control of the House and Senate..... [more]

• The stock market has wishful thinking on the war. Since the war started, the S&P 500 is down only a smidge off its record high..... [more]

• A federal judge in a scathing ruling blocked subpoenas issued to the Federal Reserve as part of a criminal investigation of its chair, Jerome Powell, by the prosecutors in the office of U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C..... [more]

• A top-2% fund manager shares where he'll be looking for opportunities as Middle East turmoil threatens tech.... [more]

• Musk admits xAI was ‘not built right’ as it contends with a founder exodus. Half of xAI’s co-founders have left the company over the last few months as the generative AI firm has lost some ground to rivals.... [more]

• SpaceX Investor Baillie Gifford Hails Pre-IPO Takeover of xAI.... [more]

• InMode Ltd. (NASDAQ:INMD) shares rose 6.4% Friday following the company’s announcement of a new share repurchase program authorized by its Board of Directors..... [more]

• How BuzzFeed spiraled from a $1.7 billion media darling to the brink of bankruptcy. BuzzFeed rode a wave of VC investment to become a force, but never found a path to profitability..... [more]

• Adobe shares drop as CEO exit fans uncertainty over AI strategy.... [more]

• Alaska Air stock hits 52-week low at $37.63 as travel demand wanes.... [more]

• The NFL and Paramount Skydance ’s renewal talks on a deal to keep the league’s Sunday games on CBS are beginning to take shape.... [more]

• DHS Buys Massive Warehouse in Salt Lake City to Detain Migrants.... [more]

• Starbucks (SBUX.O), may be neglecting the financial and reputational risks that stem from labor disputes, two proxy advisory firms are ‌warning shareholders. The warnings come more than a year after contract talks.... [more]

• Canadians have lost more than 100,000 full-time jobs since the beginning of 2026, adding pressure on Prime Minister Mark Carney's government as it seeks to shield the economy from the impact of US tariffs on Canada..... [more]

• Sterling drops vs euro and dollar after weak economic datav.... [more]

• Petrol forecourt retailers have hit out at the government's "inflammatory language" on profiteering since the oil price surge following the US-Israel war with Iran, arguing that it has led to staff abuse..... [more]

• Ed Miliband has unveiled plans that could make it easier to build nuclear power plants closer to homes and on sensitive nature sites, as he attempts to speed up the development of energy infrastructure..... [more]

• UK economy flatlines in January as people cut back on eating out.... [more]

• German wholesale ​prices rose by 1.2% in ‌February compared with ​the ​same month last ⁠year, ​according ​to data released by ​the ​federal statistics office ‌on ⁠Friday..... [more]

• In a landmark development, Neuracle Medical Technology has secured the country’s first-ever approval for an implantable brain-computer interface (BCI) system designed to restore hand motor function in patients.... [more]

• Upside, downside for China’s tariff-free Africa deal. Zero tariffs for 53 African nations sounds like a win but industrial transformation and export gains will be highly uneven.... [more]

• China slams Trump's trade investigation, as it approves a 5-year economic plan.... [more]

• Before it was swept up in Hong Kong’s biggest financial-industry raids since 2017, hedge fund firm Infini Capital Management Ltd. was already a subject of intrigue in the city’s close-knit financial community..... [more]

• Honda Scraps Plans for E.V.s While Start-Ups Forge Ahead. The Japanese company’s retreat echoes moves by other traditional carmakers as the industry divides between electric vehicle haves and have-nots..... [more]

• India's biggest airline IndiGo (INGL.NS), is asking the government to cut fuel taxes and, along with rival ‌Air India, pressing New Delhi to get private airports to lower some charges,.... [more]

• Opinion - Andy Mukherjee: The Iran War Puts India’s Dosa and AI Dreams on Ice.... [more]