Crown ‘unsuitable’ to operate Perth casino
PERTH, AAP – Crown has been found unsuitable to run a casino in Western Australia but will be given two years to clean up its act under independent monitoring. The finding is contained in the final report by a royal commission into the Perth casino, released by the state government on Thursday. The three commissioners…
Nasdaq leads as Wall Street resumes rally
NEW YORK CITY, RAW – Major US stock indexes have rallied more than one per cent, extending the market’s recent rebound as investors snapped up beaten-down shares of chipmakers and big-growth names, and as oil prices dropped. Nvidia’s stock gained 9.8 per cent, leading a rally across the chip sector and hitting its highest level…
ASX struggles to gains, continues upswing
SYDNEY, AAP – Marginal gains have ensured the ASX closed higher for a sixth trading day in the past seven. The commodity categories of materials and energy, helped by higher oil prices, offset minor falls in most others. Utilities shares also benefited from the higher commodity prices. This was the best category and improved two…
Hold on to your hats as the month
Consequential month and quarter-end rebalancing following over steepest YTD drawdowns in bond markets in decades could push implied rates and equity market volatility higher over the next week. But with CPI inflation yet to peak in the major economies, higher highs in yields look set to follow in Q2 beyond the hope for any near-term…
ANZ’s crypto coin helps buy digital assets
SYDNEY, AAP – ANZ Bank has created a cryptocurrency that a customer has used to transfer $30 million in minutes and avoid currency conversion fees. The bank on Thursday revealed it had a created a stablecoin linked to the Australian dollar for use by customer and family business Victor Smorgan Group. A stablecoin is a…
Australian shares at two-month high
SYDNEY, AAP – Australian shares have traded higher as gains on Wall Street buoyed sentiment, resulting in broad increases across the mining and energy sectors. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 32.1 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 7419.2 at 1200 AEDT on Friday, hitting its highest level in more than two months. The All…
Qld housing crisis hits regional employers
BRISBANE, AAP – Jobs in regional Queensland are going unfilled and businesses are cutting hours because there is nowhere for new employees to live, chambers of commerce across the state say. The difficulty in finding housing has a disproportionate affect in regional areas, and the flow-on effect means some employers are offering wage incentives or…
Workers in driver’s seat on wage demands
CANBERRA, AAP – Low unemployment, high vacancy rates and growing cost of living pressures have put workers in the driver’s seat when it comes to salary demands. A survey by consultants Robert Half found just over four in five employers think candidates for new jobs have become more demanding when it comes to negotiating salary…
Federal budget improves in red-hot economy
CANBERRA, AAP – A stronger-than-expected economy, a falling unemployment rate to historic lows and a commodity price boom as the result of the Russia-Ukraine war has the revenue dollars rolling in for Josh Frydenberg’s fourth budget. The treasurer will present the budget on Tuesday, and just days out from Prime Minister Scott Morrison calling what…
A US Olive Branch to China
MARKETS US equities were weaker Wednesday, S&P down 1.2%. US10yr yields fell back 9bps to 2.29%. Oil up 5.1% after Russia indicated it had temporarily limited capacity on a significant pipeline after storm damage. As traders digest higher yields and higher inflation signals via the oil price channel, stocks are lower. We may see volatility…
