Macquarie, Suncorp earnings help lift ASX
SYDNEY, AAP – Investors have raised some major financial services providers following their earnings as the big share categories lifted the Australian market. Macquarie Group and Suncorp pleased investors on Tuesday and the market rose more than one per cent with help from financials, miners and healthcare. Macquarie claimed a record third quarter, helped by…
Rate hike talk undermines confidence
CANBERRA, AAP – The prospect of higher interest rates this year has undermined confidence, just when consumers appeared to be getting back on their feet after the shock of the highly infectious COVID-19 Omicron variant. The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence index – a pointer to future household spending – fell 1.9 per cent in…
Suncorp peppered by disaster claims
SYDNEY, AAP – Financial services group Suncorp has posted a near 21 per cent fall in first-half net profit in the wake of higher insurance claims from natural disasters and lower returns on its investments. But the Queensland-based entity says its underlying business is strong, putting it in a “good” position in the second half…
Wall Street ends lower as Meta weighs
NEW YORK CITY, RAW – Wall Street ended lower on Monday, as investors digested recent quarterly results from megacaps Amazon and Facebook owner Meta Platforms, while Peloton jumped following reports of interest from potential buyers, including Amazon. Amazon.com Inc traded higher for much of the session after expanding its market capitalisation by around $US190 billion…
Aust shares end lower amid cautious mood
SYDNEY, AAP – The Australian share market has ended slightly lower despite a late recovery, as investors spied bargains among frontline stocks that have suffered amid cautious sentiment. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index ended down 9.4 points, or 0.13 per cent, at 7110.8 points on Monday. The All Ordinaries index fell 4.7 points, or 0.06 per…
Star casino to pay $13m after ‘wage theft’
SYDNEY, AAP – Beleaguered gaming operator Star Entertainment Group will fork out around $13 million dollars to up to 2,200 casino staff after admitting that it has underpaid workers for the past six years. Star on Monday said it had alerted the Fair Work Ombudsman and the United Workers Union to the planned repayments, which…
Overseas tourists to return on February 21
CANBERRA, AAP – International tourists will be allowed to come back to Australia from February 21. After the almost two year ban on foreign travellers, fully vaccinated tourists will be able to arrive in a matter of days. The decision comes following a meeting of cabinet’s national security committee on Monday. While the international borders…
Federal Court dismisses Facebook appeal
SYDNEY, AAP – Facebook has lost an appeal involving the Cambridge Analytica scandal after the Federal Court rejected its claim it does not conduct business in Australia or store Australian information. The Australian Information Commissioner is suing US-based Facebook Inc, now known as Meta, Facebook Ireland over the alleged breaching of 311,000 Australian user’s privacy….
Record retail sales in December quarter
SYDNEY, AAP – Retail sales in Australia have soared to 8.2 per cent in the December quarter, helped by festive shopping as cafes and restaurants reopened from Delta lockdowns in NSW and Victoria. Retail sales volumes climbed to the strongest quarterly rise on record, surpassing the previous mark set in the September 2020 quarter, data…
ANZ margins shrink in December quarter
SYDNEY, AAP – Australia and New Zealand Banking Group has flagged softer revenue and lower margins in the December quarter amid tough competition in the home loans market. ANZ said its net interest margin – a key measure of profitability – decreased 8 basis points compared to the average of the second half of the…
