Market Reports

• Australian Market Report: The Australian sharemarket advanced on Thursday, having briefly dipped into the red at lunchtime, the S&P/ASX 200 finished 23.2 points, or 0.3 per cent, higher at 8618.40. The Australian dollar was trading at US66.12¢ as of 4.24pm .... [more]

• U.S. Market Report: Wall Street's major indexes were mostly flat on Thursday, as investors reviewed fresh labor-market signals and firmed up their expectations for a possible Federal Reserve rate cut next week..... [more]

• European Market Report: European stocks were broadly higher on Thursday as weak U.S. private payrolls data fueled bets on an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week..... [more]

• Asian Market Report: Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday after Microsoft reportedly lowered its AI product sales targets, reviving worries over softer AI demand and margins. Investors also adopted a cautious stance before rate decisions.... [more]

Australian Business News

• A pre-Christmas spending splurge and the widening Federal deficit have sparked fears interest rates may have to be hiked to levels last seen almost two decades ago. Household spending increased 1.3 per cent in October,.... [more]

• ‘Substantial shortfall’: Just $1.6 million recovered from $446 million owed to First Guardian investors.... [more]

• A new global survey commissioned by MFS Investment Management has found that uncertainty over the ability to retire comfortably remains elevated, despite confidence levels rising since last year..... [more]

• Findi Ltd (ASX:FND) has triggered its own suspension of shares from the market on Wednesday after apparently failing to finalise a strategic investment announcement within 48 hours.... [more]

• 2 ASX ETFs Bell Potter backs for emerging markets exposure.... [more]

• ‘Total bloodbath’: Barefoot Investor Scott Pape issues ChatGPT warning. Personal finance guru Scott Pape has issued a blunt warning to those who think they can use this seemingly simple AI money hack to get rich quick..... [more]

• Labor urged to target gas exporters and bring in east coast reserve ‘right now’ as it weighs scheme’s design.... [more]

• Rio Tinto’s boss says the company’s new simplified structure will deliver hundreds of millions of dollars in productivity benefits and make the mining giant a stronger, sharper business. Simon Trott told an investor briefing on Thursday.... [more]

• BHP’s numbers keep flexing, and Citi says the spot market is doing the heavy lifting.... [more]

• ASX lithium stocks have gone from market laggards to star performers in the last six months as prices for the key battery material recovered strongly from a three-year rout..... [more]

• Glencore outlined plans to almost double copper production over the next decade as the miner seeks to reverse a slump in output, although it was also forced to lower its ambitions for next year..... [more]

• Larvotto deploys cutting-edge ECORE scanner on NSW antimony-gold play.... [more]

• Pacgold gears up new South Australian mine for first gold pour.... [more]

• Chariot Corporation has reported high-grade lithium oxide of up to 5.96% in first-pass rock chip sampling at its Fonlo and Iganna projects in southwest Nigeria,.... [more]

• Comment - Greg Jericho: There are two big drivers of Australia’s economic growth – but shape matters as much as size.... [more]

• Opinion - Elizabeth Knight: ‘Is this Soviet Russia?’ Australia is getting smoked by its tobacco fail. The underground trade in illegal tobacco has become a growing cancer for the Australian economy. .... [more]

World Business News

• Bitcoin could reach $170,000 if it trades like gold, says JPMorgan strategist.... [more]

• Retail-trading hero Eric Jackson says the crypto bear market is a 'moment of maximum opportunity'.... [more]

• US filings for jobless benefits fall to 191,000, lowest since September of 2022.... [more]

• The Trump administration is looking Down Under for inspiration on how to improve the United States’ retirement savings system..... [more]

• Average US long-term mortgage rate falls to 6.19%, near its low for the year.... [more]

• The bad news just seemed to keep piling up for Pacific Investment Management Co. Across April and May, the bond giant’s positions in 5- to 10-year Treasuries and mortgages were getting hammered..... [more]

• Meta Platforms could be set to scale back its artificial-intelligence ambitions, much to the relief of anxious investors. According to a Bloomberg report, Meta META +3.49% CEO Mark Zuckerberg is aiming to cut budgets.... [more]

• Amazon in discussions with USPS about future relationship.... [more]

• U.S. electric vehicle sales leader Tesla made notable strides in Consumer Reports’ influential annual auto brand rankings, cracking the top 10 overall for the U.S. The EV manufacturer jumped from No. 18 on last year’s list.... [more]

• Hershey’s earning recovery underway but cocoa pressure, rich valuation cap upside.... [more]

• Paramount Skydance is calling foul on how Warner Bros. Discovery has conducted its sale process. In a letter reviewed by CNBC, Paramount attorneys told Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav that Paramount was questioning.... [more]

• 'New York Times' sues Pentagon over media restrictions.... [more]

• Canadian economic activity contracted in November for the first time in six months as a measure of employment declined, Ivey Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data showed on Thursday..... [more]

• Why Putin is visiting Modi in Delhi. Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived for a two-day visit to India, where he was embraced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of an annual summit held by both countries..... [more]

• EU regulators launched an antitrust investigation into Meta Platforms (META.O), on Thursday and may even temporarily halt its rollout of artificial intelligence features in its WhatsApp messenger that would block rivals,.... [more]

• The UK’s financial regulator has decided not to immediately investigate Rachel Reeves and the Treasury over pre-budget briefings but left the door open for further examination of what the Conservatives claimed amounted to.... [more]

• Zara owner enjoys sales boost as shoppers tap into winter trend. Inditex said sales in stores and online were 10.6% higher throughout November, compared with the same month last year..... [more]

• Cristiano Ronaldo invests in AI startup Perplexity.... [more]

• Adidas has fended off an appeal from shareholders who accused it of hiding misconduct by rapper-entrepreneur Kanye West - otherwise known as Ye - before their partnership broke down in 2022..... [more]

• Italian prosecutors have asked 13 luxury fashion firms to provide documents on governance, internal controls and audits as part of an investigation into the alleged exploitation of Chinese workers at subcontractors,.... [more]

• Airbus supplier Sofitec faces quality control concerns from Spanish union.... [more]

• Poland's central bank will probably move to a wait-and-see mode for a while now before making any further rate reductions, its governor Adam Glapinski said on Thursday, a day after cutting its main interest rate..... [more]

• China wants its consumers to spend again. This ambition sits at the center of a newly unveiled action plan issued by Beijing last month, a sweeping attempt to engineer demand by reshaping what households buy rather than.... [more]

• Can China fund its AI ambitions? Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt casts doubt. Capital from the government and Big Tech firms is set to make up for any lack of market-driven capital, analysts say.... [more]

• Macron Urges Xi to Boost Chinese Investment to Shrink Trade Gap.... [more]

• More than half of China’s high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) plan to increase the share of offshore investments in their portfolios over the next year as they seek diversification amid macroeconomic uncertainty, accordin.... [more]

• Cambricon Aims to Triple Output to Replace Nvidia in China.... [more]

• The Indian rupee’s slide past Rs 90 per US dollar for the first time ever has shifted sentiment in the equity market and raised fresh concerns for investors..... [more]