Market Reports

• Australian Market Report: The Australian sharemarket closed in negative territory on Friday weighed down by tech stocks, but it pared back some of its earlier falls. The S&P/ASX 200 fell 14.1 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 7073.2 on Friday. During the day, all 11 sectors were trading in the red, but by the close, energy stocks finished in the green, trading 0.1 per cent higher..... [more]

• U.S. Market Report: Wall Street's main indexes inched higher on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged progress in lowering inflation, encouraging expectations the central bank was done with its interest rate hiking campaign..... [more]

• European Market Report: European stocks closed on a bright note on Friday, buoyed by easing inflation in the U.S. and Eurozone, encouraging manufacturing data from the Eurozone and the U.S., and better-than-expected manufacturing activity report from China..... [more]

• Asian Market Report: Asian stocks ended broadly lower on Friday as mixed economic signals from China pointed to feeble economic recovery in the world's second-largest economy..... [more]

Australian Business News

• National Australia Bank boss Ross McEwan says there could be one more interest rate rise in the next three months but that rates are nearing the top of the cycle, with economic growth to continue slowing into the New Year. Speaking on a NAB podcast before the Reserve Bank’s final rate decision of the year next week.... [more]

• Property prices stabilising after another boom, with rents still going up, especially on apartments.... [more]

• The post-pandemic jobs boom for white-collar workers is coming to an abrupt halt, as rising interest rates and a slowing economy dampen hiring across the financial services sector. From finance, to professional services such as consulting, to technology, there are clear signs some employers have been swinging the axe, while new hiring has also dropped sharply..... [more]

• Smiggle, Peter Alexander billionaire owner Solly Lew urges ‘tax cuts for the working class’.... [more]

• Yet another buy now pay later company has hit financial troubles after previously spruiking a $400 million stock market listing. BizPay, which provides buy now pay later services in the business-to-business space, mainly as an invoice payment option for small to medium sized businesses, went into administration on November 23. .... [more]

• The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) has been warned that it will be acting contrary to law if it seeks to hold member companies entirely legally liable for damage also done by third parties. What is more, stockbrokers have warned that AFCA’s proposals may end up shifting the recovery costs in disputes to member companies..... [more]

• Bitcoin to bust: World’s biggest Ponzi scheme could cause more heartache for Australians. When South African alleged conman Johann Steynberg was led away in handcuffs after being tracked down by police in the Brazilian city of Goiânia two years ago, many of his investors – including thousands of Australians – thought their nightmare was over..... [more]

• Feared US hedge fund Elliott Management could hold WA 'to ransom' in Bluewaters energy stoush.... [more]

• Why December is a bullish month for iron ore and BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue investors.... [more]

• The first $4.7 million chapter has been written in Auric Mining’s remarkable money story at its humble Jeffreys Find gold mine near Norseman in Western Australia that many others would have ignored..... [more]

• Gold Mountain has applied for 57 exploration licences enclosing more than 100,000 hectares (1000 square kilometres) of rare earths terrain in Brazil ­– and the ground sits right next to a major inferred 510.3-million-tonnes-resource..... [more]

• Peaceful coal port protesters prosecuted like bikie gang on bail. Sixteen Rising Tide protesters who were arrested in a peaceful (and approved) blockade of Newcastle Coal Port on Sunday were held in custody until they agreed to oppressive and unclear bail conditions..... [more]

• Some of Western Australia's most sought-after cattle country is set to move from Chinese to Canadian ownership in a newly struck deal. The 2.9 million hectare aggregation made up of Yougawalla Pastoral Co and Argyle Cattle Co is set to be acquired by Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) and New Agriculture for more than $300 million..... [more]

• Meat and Livestock Australia is on the hunt for a new top boss after Jason Strong announced plans to step down from the managing director role after five years in the role. Mr Strong announced his resignation on November 30 and will remain in the role until December 22..... [more]

• Calmer Co clocks 70pc e-store growth – and a 2024 Rugby partnership.... [more]

• Arovella Therapeutics appoints new CFO .... [more]

• Caution Around Harvey Norman (ASX: HVN) Growth Prospects.... [more]

• A top weapons manufacturer has argued that Australia’s defence industry is far too reliant on the UK and the US for munitions, declaring that the government must overhaul its defence strategy to favour local procurement. NIOA Group chief executive Robert Nioa called for “urgent action” to strengthen Australia’s national security on Friday..... [more]

• Comment - James Gruber: Two proven ways to make big money in markets. Many ASX success stories – like JB Hi-Fi, Lovisa, and AUB – have followed one of two strategies: rolling out single store formats nationwide or consolidating fragmented industries. Here are the secrets behind these business models..... [more]

• Opinion - Bronwyn Allen: 6 questions to ask yourself before selling ASX shares. Morgans financial advisor Tania Smyth discusses what to consider before making any decisions..... [more]

• Opinion - Michael Pascoe: Jim Chalmers must reckon we’re a nation of chumps. Last month’s Reserve Bank interest rate rise is looking increasingly lonely, leaving the board with a tough decision this Tuesday: do nothing, which would look like admitting the November increase was a mistake – or double down on that mistake..... [more]

World Business News

• Surging U.S. Oil Production Brings Down Prices and Raises Climate Fears. American oil production is hitting record levels, delivering economic and foreign policy benefits but putting environmental goals further out of reach..... [more]

• OPEC+ members agree to significant voluntary oil production cuts .... [more]

• The 10-year Treasury yield will drop to 3.5% by the end of next year as the massive bond rally will continue, UBS says.... [more]

• Investors have mostly concluded that the Federal Reserve is done hiking interest rates, and are already looking toward rate cuts next year, possibly as early as in the first half of 2024. Fed Chair Jerome Powell says: Not so fast. .... [more]

• Panera Bread has confidentially filed to go public again, the Financial Times reported. The restaurant chain, known for its soups, sandwiches and bagels, has been signaling for months that it’s looking to go public through an initial public offering..... [more]

• Social media company X faces the prospect of more advertisers fleeing and has no clear fix in sight, ad industry experts said, after billionaire owner Elon Musk lashed out at some of the biggest brands for dropping the platform. Walt Disney (DIS.N) and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD.O) suspended advertising on X earlier this month following Musk's endorsement of an antisemitic post that falsely claimed members of the Jewish community were stoking hatred against white people..... [more]

• Southwest Airlines and its pilots’ union are closing in on a new contract that would raise pay for the carrier’s more than 11,000 aviators and end months of contentious negotiations, weeks ahead of the crucial holiday travel season. The company and the union have agreed on pay, retirement and other items but are working on an implementation schedule, the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association said in a message to its members on Thursday..... [more]

• Tesla's Cybertruck feels more SUV than pickup, uplifts brand.... [more]

• The Bank of Canada will start cutting interest rates in the second quarter of next year as inflation and the economy slow, according to economists polled by Reuters, who forecast base borrowing costs will drop by at least one percentage point by end-2024..... [more]

• President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree putting St Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport under the temporary management of a Russian company, wresting control from investors from Germany, Qatar and other Gulf states. The decree, signed late on Thursday, stated that a Russian holding company had been set up to manage the asset, with the rights of German airport operator Fraport (FRAG.DE) and Qatar's sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority among those to be transferred to Russian hands..... [more]

• UK economy shows signs of steadying amid pause in interest rate rises.... [more]

• Sir James Dyson has lost his libel battle against the publisher of the Daily Mirror over an article that branded the billionaire a hypocrite for supporting Brexit before moving his head office to Singapore. The industrialist, who made his fortune from bagless vacuum cleaners, sued over the column that claimed children would draw the lesson from Dyson that they could “talk the talk, then screw your country”..... [more]

• ‘We can’t let Tesla get away with this’: why Swedish unions are fighting Elon Musk.... [more]

• Soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is facing a $1 billion class action lawsuit for his promotion of Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in a Florida court, said that Ronaldo “promoted, assisted in, and/or actively participated in the offer and sale of unregistered securities in coordination with Binance,” including selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of himself, which led to substantial financial losses for investors..... [more]

• China factory activity contracts in November for 2nd straight month despite stimulus measures.... [more]

• President Xi Jinping appears set to postpone a party meeting held every five years to chart his nation’s long-term reform agenda, the latest example of the Chinese leader disregarding decades-old norms. The ruling Communist Party’s Politburo skipped setting a date for the third plenum at its meeting this week, according to the official read out..... [more]

• US fines PwC $7 million for allowing cheating in audit exams in China .... [more]

• Li Auto and Xpeng, two top premium electric vehicle (EV) builders in China, rewrote sales records in November, as their new car models amplified the popularity of battery-powered vehicles. Li Auto, which joined the Hang Seng Index as one of the new constituents this month, reported deliveries of 41,030 units in November, up 1.5 per cent from the previous record of 40,422 it had set in October..... [more]

• More executives go missing in China — this time linked to troubled shadow bank Zhongzhi .... [more]

• Japan’s LDP Seeks to Keep Checks on Foreign Ownership of NTT.... [more]