Market Reports

• Australian Market Report: The Australian sharemarket advanced on Friday, following in the footsteps of a positive move from US stocks where the S&P 500 Index surged to within 1 per cent of its record. The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 27.4 points, or 0.4 per cent, higher at 7749, kept afloat primarily by energy stocks..... [more]

• U.S. Market Report: U.S. stocks eked out modest gains on Friday and all three indexes posted another weekly advance as investors parsed comments from Federal Reserve officials and looked ahead to crucial inflation data next week. The S&P 500 and the Dow were modestly higher and the Nasdaq ended essentially unchanged. .... [more]

• European Market Report: European stocks closed higher on Friday, with several markets hitting fresh record highs, as investors reacted to some positive economic data and earnings updates, and continued to remain optimistic about interest rate cuts by central banks in the coming months..... [more]

• Asian Market Report: Asian stocks advanced on Friday, while the dollar and bond yields dipped as fresh signs of cooling in the U.S. labor market revived hopes for U.S. rate cuts this year..... [more]

Australian Business News

• Q1 inflation surprises have pushed the Fed to flip on its December view and accept that interest rates will have to stay high for longer at last week’s meeting. We’re in a world shaped by structural forces and supply – creating greater uncertainty for the Fed and markets. That’s why we eye new data, not Fed signals, to gauge the policy path. We see high-for-longer rates, a view markets now reflect. We stay overweight U.S. stocks as solid corporate earnings help offset pressure from high rates..... [more]

• This week’s best investing insights. Stay up to date with our best investment opportunities and insights on investing..... [more]

• 18 Share Tips – 13th May 2024.... [more]

• Australia’s gross debt is still predicted to rise above $1 trillion, Treasurer Jim Chalmers has flagged, as the Albanese government faces calls to deepen spending cuts to avoid exacerbating inflationary pressures. Speaking three days out from the May 14 budget, the Treasurer did not rule out an increase in gross debt beyond $1 trillion, but argued that Labor’s economic credentials meant that Australia’s liabilities were lower than they otherwise would have been..... [more]

• What small businesses really want from the budget. Small businesses are desperate for relief in the upcoming federal budget after being caught between consumers’ reluctance to open their wallets and the government’s focus on reducing inflation, business groups say..... [more]

• Superannuation fund assets continue to grow dramatically, with the latest available figures from APRA detailing that overall superannuation balances in all types of funds grew by 3.8 per cent in the December quarter to total $3.7 trillion. A growing workforce, together with a strong propensity for Australians to make their own super contributions, resulted in overall contributions to super increasing 8 per cent to $42.2 billion over the quarter..... [more]

• ‘A long, slow burn’: more Australian households on the brink as mortgage stress rises. Australia’s big banks breezed through another reporting period, printing healthy profits while marvelling at the financial resilience of households in the face of elevated interest rates and rocketing living costs..... [more]

• ChartWatch: Gold versus Silver, which metal wins?.... [more]

• Anglo Americans shareholders are pushing the company to speed up the release of its turnaround plan as the 107-year-old miner seeks to present an alternative to BHP’s takeover bid. Anglo has been reviewing its business since mid-2023, looking at every mine in its portfolio to help reshape a company that’s fallen behind competitors in recent years..... [more]

• Octopus Investments' power play and why it's building a billion dollar battery. A $1 billion battery might sound cool but it's part of a bigger opportunity that Octopus Investments is dialled into, says CEO Sam Reynolds..... [more]

• GreenTech looks to tap into global copper surge.... [more]

• State Gas(ASX:GAS) has secured an exploration grant of $5.5 million from the Queensland Government’s Frontier Gas Exploration Program to fund exploration at the company’s Rolleston West coal seam gas (“CSG”) project with the drilling of two new vertical wells. Success from this campaign is likely to accelerate State Gas’ application for a petroleum lease over a substantial portion of the project area, which will facilitate ongoing evaluation of the project..... [more]

• 88 Energy hires contractor for Namibia seismic.... [more]

• Our research shows higher carbon emissions increase costs for Australian businesses. Imagine every ton of carbon dioxide a company emits is slowly inflating its costs — not just in terms of potential fines or fees but in the capital it needs to grow and operate. This isn’t just an environmental issue, it’s a stark reality many companies experience today..... [more]

• A farmer has absolutely savaged the federal government over its decision to scrap the controversial live sheep export trade which he has warned could leave himself and others “broke”. “It’s destroyed the industry on a whim,” David Slade, a livestock farmer from Mount Barker in Western Australia, told news.com.au. “Everybody’s really livid.”.... [more]

• Big corporates trying to find other occupants to sublet their unwanted offices are struggling to compete with landlords who are offering big incentives in rent deals. Tech giants like Atlassian, Salesforce, Meta and X were once seen as the saviour of landlords because of their large-scale leases. They are now wary of taking up new space, accounting for just 16.5 per cent of sublet space..... [more]

• TPG Telecom makes enterprise data searchable with Copilot trial.... [more]

• The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has commenced proceedings in the Federal Court to make urgent preventative orders against a Queensland-based financial adviser. Sunny Mahendra Prakash is currently a certified practicing accountant, registered tax practitioner, self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) auditor and financial adviser, who is, along with his related companies, Principal Financial Services Pty Ltd, Self-Managed Super Pty Ltd, Provest Enterprises Pty Ltd and Super Funds Australia Pty Ltd ITF Principal Superannuation Fund, are now the subject of an ASIC investigation..... [more]

• Comment - Bronwyn Allen: Coles share price holds firm while Woolworths tumbles 18% in 2024. Time to buy?.... [more]

• Analysis - The undoing of Bonza: Can Bazza, Sheila and Bruce be rescued? It was shaping up to be a relatively normal Tuesday morning for the staff of Sunshine Coast Airport on April 30 when engineering administrators suddenly stormed its Queensland terminal and seized two purple planes – known as Shazza and Malc – moving them as far away as possible from their respective gates..... [more]

World Business News

• In the latest Oil Monitor report from Bank of America, a notable decline in oil prices is attributed to shifting market dynamics, with geopolitical concerns taking a back seat to supply-side factors. According to Citi's analysis, the market's perception of geopolitical risks in the Middle East has softened, leading to downward pressure on Brent crude oil prices, which briefly dipped below $82 per barrel..... [more]

• Top 5 things to watch in markets in the week ahead.... [more]

• U.S. consumer sentiment fell sharply in May to the lowest level in six months as Americans cited stubbornly high inflation and interest rates, as well as fears that unemployment could rise. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index, released Friday in a preliminary version, dropped to 67.4 this month from a final reading of 77.2 in April. May’s reading is still about 14% higher than a year ago..... [more]

• The Biden administration plans to impose major new tariffs on electric vehicles, semiconductors, solar equipment and medical supplies imported from China, according to a U.S. official and another person familiar with the plan. Tariffs on electric vehicles, in particular, could quadruple — from the existing 25% to 100%. The plan was described by the people on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to provide details ahead of a formal announcement..... [more]

• A federal judge temporarily halts U.S. plan to lower credit card late fees to $8.... [more]

• As analysts clash over when the next recession will befall the US, large swaths of the country are still bogged down in the previous downturn. That's as labor markets continue to struggle in more than a quarter of US metros, having never reversed COVID-era job losses, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported this week..... [more]

• Sweetgreen, Chipotle and other fast-casual chains are bucking the consumer slowdown.... [more]

• Elon Musk’s Diplomacy: Woo Right-Wing World Leaders. Then Benefit. Mr. Musk has built a constellation of like-minded heads of state — including Argentina’s Javier Milei and India’s Narendra Modi — to push his own politics and expand his business empire..... [more]

• The US-China rivalry will reshape the landscape for Big Tech earnings.... [more]

• Apple Store workers in Maryland vote to authorize strike .... [more]

• Hobbled by Cyberattack, Christie’s Says Marquee Sales Will Proceed. The auction house failed to regain control of its official website on Sunday but said that its spring auctions would go on, in person and by phone..... [more]

• UK no longer in recession after economy grows 0.6% in last quarter.... [more]

• Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that it will "take time" for people to "really feel better" as figures revealed the UK had emerged from recession. The economy grew by 0.6% between January and March after shrinking in the second half of last year..... [more]

• The founder of a music company that holds the rights to songs by Blondie and Justin Bieber has accused his former business partner of using the proceeds of fraud to fund their collapsed venture, court documents show. Merck Mercuriadis is the founder of Hipgnosis Songs Fund (HSF), a FTSE 250 company that buys music rights in the hope of profiting from streaming revenues, and which is now set to be taken over by private equity investor Blackstone in a £1.3bn deal..... [more]

• Protesters attempt to storm Tesla’s factory in Germany .... [more]

• South Korea’s state-owned nuclear developer has discussed building a multibillion-pound power plant in Wales with the UK government, it has emerged. Kepco, the largest utility provider in South Korea, has held early-stage discussions with Westminster officials about developing the Wylfa Newydd site on the island of Anglesey (Ynys Môn), the Financial Times reported..... [more]

• France secured on Sunday new jobs and investments with Internet giant Amazon (AMZN.O), , healthcare company Pfizer (PFE.N), nd Wall Street bank Morgan Stanley (MS.N), as the country prepared to host a key foreign investment summit..... [more]

• Commuter rail service in northeast Spain has been disrupted by theft of copper cables near Barcelona.... [more]

• China is set to switch off a live feed of foreign flows for stocks as early as Monday, the latest policy move to shore up confidence by removing a potential source of negative data. The Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges plan to cease displaying real-time figures on purchases or sales of local stocks through trading links with Hong Kong. Instead, the two bourses will provide the turnover details on a daily basis, along with the 10 most-traded stocks via the northbound channel.... [more]

• Chinese companies win more bids to explore for Iraq oil and gas.... [more]

• China’s securities watchdog said it is investigating hedge fund Zhejiang Ruifengda Asset Management Co. for suspected illegal activities, while media reports said the fund has failed to pay investors seeking redemptions and that the controlling shareholder is missing..... [more]

• Don’t sleep on Hyundai in the great EV race. South Korean automaker investing massively in electric and software-defined vehicles while accelerating in US and China markets.... [more]

• South Korea prepares support package worth over $7 billion for chip industry.... [more]