Market love and unfaithfulness
The love of growth is the root of all of evil, including corporate losses, lousy cash flows and inflation. Some companies – and whole economies – are starting to pay the price of their unfaithfulness to sound business principles and economic discipline. The ASX rallied sharply in July on expectations central banks would lose their…
Evening markets report Friday
The local sharemarket largely mimicked trade seen on Wall Street overnight, and extended its declines to a second straight day after the ASX 200 shed 0.8 per cent or 53.9 points to 6676.8. Ten (of 11) sectors and roughly 66 per cent of stocks in the ASX 200 lost ground. The Big 4 banks all…
Support for critical minerals breakthroughs
The Albanese Government is accelerating the growth of the critical minerals sector and supporting clean-energy technologies through new initiatives as part of efforts to reach net zero. A new National Critical Minerals Strategy is being developed in consultation with industry and community stakeholders, including traditional owners. Australia has some of the world’s largest reserves of…
Helping farmers get feed to flood affected livestock
The NSW Government has today announced a new Agricultural Commodities Permit to support farmers affected by flooding and needing to transport stock feed. Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway said the Government is working with industry to ensure heavy vehicles get the access they need along key transport links. “We all know that…
Increasing fairness and support for gig workers
Victorian gig economy workers will be protected by new standards and able to call on a dedicated support service under nation-leading reforms announced today by the Andrews Labor Government. The Fair Conduct and Accountability Standardswill promote fairness and transparency in dealings between on-demand platforms and gig workers, on issues including pay and conditions, consultation, the…
Forestry Corporation proposed acquisition raises concerns
The ACCC has outlined preliminary concerns with Forestry Corporation of New South Wales’ (FCNSW) proposed acquisition of the assets of Hume Forests Ltd (Hume) in a statement of issues published today. Hume is being sold in a competitive bid process. FCNSW is a state-owned corporation that manages commercial native and plantation forests on behalf of the NSW…
Court finds Austal and former CEO breached laws
The Federal Court has ordered Austal Limited (ASX:ASB) (Austal) to pay a penalty of $650,000 after finding the ship building company contravened continuous disclosure laws. The Court also found Austal’s former CEO, David Singleton, was knowingly involved in the disclosure failures. Mr Singleton has been ordered to pay a penalty of $50,000. Austal and Mr…
CommSec morning report Friday
In US economic data, initial jobless claims fell by 12,000 to 214,000 in the past week (survey: 233,000). Existing home sales dipped 1.5% in September to a 4.71 million annualised rate (survey: 4.7m). The Conference Board leading index fell by 0.4% in September (survey: -0.3%). The Philadelphia Federal Reserve manufacturing index rose from -9.9 to…
Evening markets report Thursday
The local sharemarket was weighed by an uninspiring trading session in the US overnight, and erased most of the gains it made over the past two sessions, after the ASX 200 fell 69 points or 1 per cent to 6730.7. Nine sectors and 84 per cent of stocks in the ASX 200 lost ground. Major…
China’s loan prime rates remain unchanged
China’s one-year loan prime rate (LPR), a market-based benchmark lending rate, came in at 3.65 percent Thursday, unchanged from the previous month. The over-five-year LPR, on which many lenders base their mortgage rates, also remained unchanged from the previous reading of 4.3 percent, according to the National Interbank Funding Center. The country had lowered the…
