Market Reports

• Australian Market Report: Australia’s sharemarket bucked the trend of rising global markets to close lower on Thursday. The S&P/ASX 200 edged down 23.7 points, falling 0.26 per cent, to close at 8955..... [more]

• U.S. Market Report: The benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-heavy ​Nasdaq touched intraday record highs on Thursday as optimism surrounding a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon buoyed ‌sentiment, reassuring investors.... [more]

• European Market Report: European stocks closed on a mixed note on Thursday with investors mostly making cautious moves, digesting corporate earnings updates and regional economic data, while continuing to focus on geopolitical news..... [more]

• Asian Market Report: Asian stocks recorded strong gains on Thursday as markets increased expectations of a deal to end the U.S.-Iran conflict. AI-led demand also boosted stocks in the tech space..... [more]

Australian Business News

• Australian dollar surges to four-year high as traders see Iran war ending in near-term.... [more]

• A rate rise remains on the cards in May following Thursday’s release of the first data showing how the Iran war is hitting the broader economy. Fresh figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows the unemployment rate.... [more]

• Consumer confidence just posted its worst monthly drop since COVID. History suggests it's a good time to buy retail stocks..... [more]

• Australia's unemployment rate remained at 4.3 per cent in March, the same as February, in seasonally adjusted terms. Employment increased by 17,900 people and unemployment decreased by 3,700 people..... [more]

• The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will fly home early from his fuel diplomacy mission in south-east Asia, travelling overnight to Victoria after a huge blaze at one of Australia’s two oil refineries..... [more]

• ‘Taking advantage’: ACCC investigates fuel surcharges as diesel prices surge despite government excise cut relief.... [more]

• The fragility of Australia’s jet fuel supply has been laid bare by the fire at the Geelong oil refinery, one of just two facilities in the country to produce the crucial product, as airlines grapple with the fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran..... [more]

• A Senate inquiry has paved the way for renewed calls from the Super Members Council (SMC) to dump an ‘outdated’ law excluding part-time domestic workers in private homes from earning guaranteed superannuation..... [more]

• Blaming the failures of Shield and First Guardian on lead generation is both convenient and wrong, according to the president of the Institute of Financial Professionals Australia, Scott Heathwood..... [more]

• WiseTech Global Shares Up 22.5% on Week, As Tech Leads ASX 200 Today.... [more]

• Div 296 may mean your estate pays tax on assets your beneficiaries never receive. Exploring the unintended consequences of Division 296 when the tax and the asset decouple..... [more]

• Why the Middle East crisis could light a fire under ASX uranium and lithium stocks. A historic oil shock is rewriting the energy security playbook — and ASX investors in lithium and uranium stocks may be the winners..... [more]

• Western Mines Group has sharpened its exploration focus after completing a review of its project portfolio, clearing the decks for new growth by exiting non-core assets and securing two new large-scale greenfields.... [more]

• European Resources (ASX: ERE) has released a robust JORC inferred mineral resource estimate (MRE) update for its Korsnäs rare earth elements (REE) project in western Finland..... [more]

• Forrestania Resources is officially on the move after trucking the first load of gold ore from its British Hill deposit to its recently acquired and soon-to-be-refurbished Lake Johnston processing facility,.... [more]

• Sovereign Metals shares jump 10% as Kasiya feasibility study confirms $2.2bn project value.... [more]

• Ora Banda Mining has hit a purple patch at its Davyhurst gold operations near Kalgoorlie, banking a massive quarter of $76.3 million in free cash flow from a record-breaking March quarter..... [more]

• Kali Metals kicks off phase two drilling at Marble Bar.... [more]

• About 175 workers at Australia's only manganese smelter, Liberty Bell Bay, have been told they will be laid off at the end of next week unless they take leave without pay..... [more]

• South32 sues Siemens over alleged software flaw.... [more]

• Preliminary unaudited sales for Xenitra Ltd (ASX:XEN)'s March quarter reached $8.3 million, up more than 300% on the previous quarter, with momentum building through the period as March sales alone topped $4 million..... [more]

• The Albanese government says it has locked in the last 20 per cent of fertiliser needed by Australian farmers for the current season after a deal with Indonesia, as the war in the Middle East continues to disrupt world supply routes..... [more]

• Shoppers have been told the cost of milk could rise in the coming weeks as farmers push for an increase in prices due to the Middle East war. Dairy farmers have been urging supermarket giants to lift the price of milk by at least 20% a litre.... [more]

• Xenitra posts Q3 sales surge as nutritionals drive turnaround.... [more]

• Canva is positioning the company not as a target of AI angst, but as one of the tech firms doing the disruption. Australia’s highest-profile tech unicorn is undertaking a risky transformation as it seeks to prove its relevance.... [more]

• PLS Group Ltd (ASX: PLS) shares hit an all-time high today, extending one of the ASX's strongest large-cap runs..... [more]

• Australia's big banks have made hundreds of reports of suspicious activity related to illegal tobacco since the anti-money laundering regulator called for a crackdown late last year..... [more]

• Comment - Nick Toscano: Don’t panic, the Geelong fire shouldn’t spike Australian fuel prices. Scenes of thick smoke rising from the Geelong oil refinery are not what anyone wanted to see on Thursday morning.... [more]

World Business News

• U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell last week, remaining in the range of the past few years even as the war in Iran continues to threaten the global economy..... [more]

• The war in the Middle East — and the economic uncertainty it has fueled — is clouding what is usually the hottest season for home sales, leaving some sellers facing a dwindling pool of buyers..... [more]

• ‘Credit card chaos’? Financial institutions bet big on repeal of first-of-its-kind Illinois law..... [more]

• Don't call it a comeback: 3 reasons why stocks have clawed back Iran-war losses. While oil traders stay suspended in limbo over the Iran war, stock traders seem to have called it a day..... [more]

• Netflix reports earnings after the bell. Here’s what to expect. Netflix kicks off earnings season for media companies on Thursday with a quarterly report that Wall Street hopes will give more updates on the company’s path forward.... [more]

• Madison Air Solutions (MAIR.N), secured a valuation of $15.65 billion after its shares jumped 18.5% in their debut on Thursday, ​signaling solid investor demand for companies tied to AI-driven data ‌center growth..... [more]

• Famed investor Andrew Left says Nvidia has already crowned the big quantum stock winner..... [more]

• Advanced Micro Devices’ stock is cruising into record territory as enthusiasm continues to build around the company’s business of supplying central processing units for servers. Shares of AMD AMD +6.13% are up 7.4% in Thursday trading.... [more]

• OpenAI launches new AI model for life sciences research. OpenAI announced a new series of AI models built to help life sciences researchers work faster..... [more]

• ChatGPT maker OpenAI shifts its focus to business users amid Anthropic pressure.... [more]

• Anthropic's newest AI tool could spark chaos in markets, but not for the reasons investors have become accustomed to lately..... [more]

• CoreWeave upsizes bond deal for an additional $1 billion. AI debt is in vogue. CoreWeave expanded its high-yield bond offering to $2.75 billion on Thursday after outsized investor and customer demand.... [more]

• Boeing (BA.N), is hiring around 100 to 140 factory workers a week, the highest pace ‌since 2024, as the U.S. jetmaker replaces retirees and increases staffing to support higher production rates and new models, a union leader said..... [more]

• Intel hires Samsung executive to boost chip manufacturing push.... [more]

• PepsiCo's (PEP.O), price cuts for salty snacks in the U.S. ​and resilient demand for diet sodas helped it top Wall Street estimates, providing a buffer against growing macroeconomic uncertainty and the ‌threat of higher costs.... [more]

• After the U.S. Forest Service unveiled a proposal last month to give Montana’s lumber industry a “predictable” timber supply from three national forests, questions about the agency’s plan to incorporate an 82-year-old law.... [more]

• Several suspiciously timed trades – made just before Donald Trump announced policy shifts in the Iran war – are being investigated by American regulators amid fears people with inside knowledge illegally profited..... [more]

• Europe rolls out online age verification app to protect young people. Europe doesn’t want to hear any more excuses from tech platforms for why they can’t verify users’ ages..... [more]

• European Airlines Face Fuel Shortages Within Weeks. If tankers do not soon begin crossing the Strait of Hormuz, airlines in Europe may not have enough jet fuel to operate all of their flights..... [more]

• The UK economy saw its biggest monthly rise in more than two years in February, official figures show. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the economy grew by a faster-than-expected 0.5%,.... [more]

• Pizza chain Franco Manca to shut 16 restaurants with hundreds of jobs at risk.... [more]

• UK gilts decline amid political pressure on Starmer over Mandelson.... [more]

• Metro Bank’s chief executive has been handed a £2.6m pay packet – the largest in its history – a year after slashing 1,000 jobs in response to the lender’s near collapse..... [more]

• Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel said on ​Thursday that the oil price ‌shock due to the Iran war will take a toll on the German ​economy but is unlikely to ​trigger a recession. "A great deal ⁠would have to happen.... [more]

• Austrian prosecutors ​said on Thursday they had placed Austria's former Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer under investigation on ‌suspicion of breach of trust during his time as a senior executive at the now-collapsed property group Signa..... [more]

• China’s economy accelerated in the first quarter of this year, expanding 5% from a year earlier as it largely shrugged off impacts from the Iran war so far, according to data released Thursday..... [more]

• Ganfeng Lithium, the world’s largest producer of lithium metal, has issued a strong profit forecast for the first quarter of this year as soaring demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage system (ESS) batteries lifted earnings..... [more]

• Japan should gradually raise interest rates and keep any fiscal stimulus targeted given ​robust domestic demand and steady wage gains, a ‌senior International Monetary Fund official said on Thursday..... [more]