Aust shares on broad-based rally
SYDNEY, AAP – Australia’s share market was on a broad-based rally, having bettered a poor showing from Wall Street. Property, technology and healthcare shares were best and gained more than one per cent. Market giant CSL was up 1.12 per cent to $297.41 while major players in banking and mining struggled for momentum. The benchmark…
World Bank opposes vaccine IP waiver
WASHINGTON, D. C., RAW – World Bank President David Malpass says the bank does not support waiving intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines at the World Trade Organisation out of concern that it would hamper innovation in the pharmaceuticals sector. His comments on the subject, made during a call with reporters on World Bank economic…
Watchdog blitz rattles Aussie share market
SYDNEY, AAP – A financial crime watchdog’s investigations into four companies have rattled investors on the Australian share market. AUSTRAC has widened its investigation of Crown Resorts, and is examining whether NAB and casino operators SkyCity and Star Entertainment met anti-money laundering obligations. The stocks of the four companies traded lower, as did the ASX…
Russia govt wealth fund to ditch US dollar
MOSCOW, AP – Russia says it will completely remove the US dollar from its rainy day fund, a move intended to counter US pressure two weeks before a summit of the two countries’ leaders. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told an economic forum in St Petersburg that the National Wealth Fund will turn its US-dollar-denominated assets…
Retail spending, exports rebound in April
CANBERRA, AAP – New figures show the economy got off to a solid start to the June quarter with exports and retail spending growing in April, after Australia reported a solid expansion in the first three months of 2021. Construction data also showed the industry remains in expansion territory. Australian exports recovered by three per…
Labor debates but backs NT gas development
CANBERRA, AAP – Federal Labor MPs have spoken at odds over plans to develop the Beetaloo Basin gas field in the Northern Territory. The basin is one of five gas fields the Commonwealth plans to open up to support exports and manufacturing. It sits over the Cambrian Limestone Aquifer which has some of the best…
Westpac wants to help with vaccine rollout
CANBERRA, AAP – Westpac chief executive Peter King wants the corporate sector to be allowed to step in and help Australia’s flagging vaccine rollout. The bank boss said vaccinations were critical to getting lives back to normal and warned closing international borders and relying on lockdowns in response to outbreaks was unsustainable. “I understand there…
Corporate watchdog’s fee hikes face probe
CANBERRA, AAP – The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is in line for a new program designed to stop it imposing too many fees across the economy. Regulators are encouraged to recover costs from industry but there are concerns that has gone too far. The Department of Finance told a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday…
CBA invests in e-tailer, power provider
SYDNEY, AAP – The Commonwealth Bank has bought stakes in an online shopping group and power retailer as it tries to keep pace with innovative online rivals. The nation’s biggest bank has invested $30 million in shopping site Little Birdie and $20 million in power provider Amber, gaining stakes of 23 per cent and 25…
Qantas sick pay stoush set for High Court
SYDNEY, AAP – A group of unions say a “cynical and callous” decision by Qantas to prevent stood-down workers from accessing their sick leave should be reversed, with the matter set to appear in the High Court. A Federal Court appeals bench in November rejected the unions’ claim, saying that because the employees were not…
