Market Reports

• Australian Market Report: Australian shares sunk to almost three-month lows Friday after higher-than-expected inflation figures in the United States and Australia pushed bond yields higher and weighed on the local bourse. The S&P/ASX 200 Index tumbled 107.1 points, or 1.39 per cent, to 7575.9 at the close..... [more]

• U.S. Market Report: U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday, buoyed by a rally in megacap growth stocks following robust quarterly results from technology heavyweights Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens new tab and Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab in addition to moderate inflation data..... [more]

• European Market Report: European stocks closed on a firm note on Friday with investors cheering a slew of strong earnings updates from U.S. big names Alphabet and Microsoft, and a few European companies, and shrugging of interest rate concerns for now..... [more]

• Asian Market Report: Asian stocks rose broadly on Friday as Microsoft and Google's parent company Alphabet both beat Wall Street's first quarter expectations, offsetting Meta Platforms' disappointing forward guidance..... [more]

Australian Business News

• Interest rates risk going higher still, economists have warned, as stubborn inflationary pressures, rebounding economic growth, and continued tightness in the jobs market could force the Reserve Bank to inflict further pain on household borrowers. Traders have also built up their bets that the RBA could lift interest rates again, and on Friday ascribed a 52 per cent chance of a hike at the central bank’s August meeting; a stark reversal of the 70 per cent odds of a cut at its December meeting earlier this week..... [more]

• Australia's average tax rate increase tops OECD countries due to bracket creep and end of tax offset.... [more]

• Treasurer Jim Chalmers is all but assured of delivering back-to-back surpluses, with new figures showing thumping revenue flows and tightened federal purse strings are set to keep the budget in the black..... [more]

• ASIC billed $4.4m for unlicensed advice and the costs go on.... [more]

• Large companies, including supermarkets, have become more resilient, while small retailers face some of the worst risks of failure amid a continuing consumer spending crunch and rising rental and mortgage costs. Data from credit bureau illion this week revealed that business conditions worsened substantially in the year to March 2024, with the number of businesses at severe risk of failing 80 per cent higher than just 15 months ago..... [more]

• Property Council of Australia calls for YIMBYs to support more infill development .... [more]

• The only Aussie name in Platinum's global stocks fund.... [more]

• ENRG Elements has used radiometrics in its ground surveys and a recent trenching program to identify potentially significant uranium mineralisation at its promising Agadez project in the landlocked West African country of Niger. The company used hand-held radiation survey devices that provided readings up to 2900-times background levels, enabling preliminary identification of possible mineralised zones at the site within the Tim Mersoi Basin..... [more]

• Tamboran and NT government's secretive Beetaloo Basin gas deal criticised by industry, experts.... [more]

• ‘Opportunistic’: Anglo American rejects BHP’s $60 billion takeover bid.... [more]

• Anglo American story in its first chapter - all eyes are on Rio Tinto. It will be interesting to see if BHP Group Ltd (LSE:BHP, ASX:BHP) returns with a juiced-up bid for Anglo American PLC (LSE:AAL) in the coming days or whether a rival bidder emerges..... [more]

• Eastern Australia’s gas supply gap is widening. Here’s what might happen.... [more]

• Global wine consumption fell to its lowest level since 1996 last year as inflation sent prices to record highs, deterring consumers already facing lower spending power. The Paris-based International Organisation for Vine and Wine (OIV) estimated world wine consumption in 2023 at 221 million hectolitres (mhl), down 2.6 per cent from 2022, and 7.5 per cent below 2018..... [more]

• Manly Wharf set for a revamp as new owners get the keys.... [more]

• ResMed (ASX:RMD) shares have climbed 7 per cent following a strong performance as revealed in the company’s Third Quarter FY2024 results. ResMed is a global leader in digital health technologies and cloud-connected medical devices, which focus on improving care for individuals with sleep apnea, COPD and other chronic diseases..... [more]

• Kogan grappling with muted consumer demand. Sales growth misses our expectations and we downgrade our earnings outlook for 2024 and 2025..... [more]

• A civil construction company has gone bust, leaving millions in unpaid debts and dozens of workers out of a job. Mainscarf, which trades as Hansen Constructions NQ, fell into voluntary administration on January 3, with administrators David Stimpson and Michael Brennan of SV Partners appointed to take control of the North Queensland company..... [more]

• Scott Farquhar to step down as Atlassian co-CEO.... [more]

• Here's the Wesfarmers dividend forecast through to 2028.... [more]

• Court In The Act: An attack on free speech? The courtroom battle between Australia and Elon Musk.... [more]

• The board of Rebel Sport owner, Super Retail Group, has denied bombshell allegations of an undisclosed relationship involving its chief executive, Anthony Heraghty, and bullying claims that are expected to form the basis of a $50 million lawsuit..... [more]

• Woolworths fined $1.2 million for underpaying Victorian workers' long service leave.... [more]

• Opinion/Analysis - Cameron McCormack: Why the S&P/ASX 200 will rise by another 8% this year (and the 3 sectors to watch).... [more]

World Business News

• Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation metric rose to 2.7% in March. Figures come day after US first-quarter growth data prompt investors to push back interest rate cut expectations.... [more]

• The US economy may be barrelling towards stagflation, an outcome worse than recession.... [more]

• As U.S. inflation worries grow, some investors are preparing for the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield to breach a 16-year high of 5% hit last October. Bond yields, which move inversely to prices, have climbed in recent weeks as signs of persistent inflation erode expectations for how deeply the Federal Reserve will be able to cut interest rates without further fueling consumer prices..... [more]

• Bank of America has coined a phrase for what's going on in markets right now, calling it an "anything but bonds" bull run. The firm notes that in the fourth quarter of 2023, stocks and crypto led the way. In the first three months of 2024, it was commodities and... well, still crypto..... [more]

• FTC is sued by business groups over its ban on non-compete agreements, which may delay enforcement.... [more]

• American Airlines on Friday said Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner delivery delays are forcing it to cut some long-haul flights in the second half of the year and into early 2025, the latest carrier to change its schedule tied to the plane-maker’s production problems..... [more]

• Starbucks (SBUX.O) held contract negotiations with the Workers United union over a two-day session in Atlanta, both the parties said on Friday, with plans to meet again in late May. The coffee chain and Workers United, that represents Starbucks workers in the United States, began negotiations this week on what they called a "foundational framework" to guide union organizing and collective bargaining across the country..... [more]

• Exxon Mobil and Chevron Report Lower Earnings. Profits for the two oil giants, which are locked in a standoff over drilling off the coast of Guyana, were squeezed by lower profitability for refining crude and falling natural gas prices..... [more]

• Fitch Ratings downgraded outlook on Boeing (BA.N) to "negative" from "stable" on Friday, amid a fallout from safety crisis impacting the U.S. planemaker's production and cashflow. The ratings agency, which reaffirmed its "BBB-" long-term issuer default rating, said it could stabilize the outlook if Boeing liquidates over 100 of its pre-2023 built 737 MAX and half of its 787 inventories by early 2025, along with increasing production of its MAX jets towards 38 per month..... [more]

• Trump allies are drawing up plans to make the Fed less independent, report says..... [more]

• The U.S. government’s auto safety agency is investigating whether last year’s recall of Tesla’s Autopilot driving system did enough to make sure drivers pay attention to the road. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in documents posted on its website Friday that Tesla has reported 20 more crashes involving Autopilot and since the recall..... [more]

• Tesla (TSLA.O), plans to lay off 693 employees at its facilities in Sparks, Nevada, the electric-vehicle maker said in its Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice earlier this week..... [more]

• TikTok suspends TikTok Lite rewards program in the EU amid regulatory scrutiny .... [more]

• EU antitrust regulators on Friday warned that British Airways owner IAG's (ICAG.L) bid to secure full control of Air Europa may reduce competition and lead to price increases. The European Commission singled out the impact on Spanish domestic routes and short-haul and long-haul routes in a statement of objections to the companies, confirming a Reuters story earlier this month..... [more]

• Half a million firms in ‘significant’ financial distress as Britain’s economy stagnates. Firms struggling with high interest rates, brittle consumer confidence and high levels of debt accrued during the pandemic.... [more]

• The Cambridge-based cybersecurity and artificial intelligence company Darktrace is likely to become the latest British technology champion to be swallowed up by a US suitor, after it agreed a $5.3bn (£4.2bn) sale to US private equity business Thoma Bravo..... [more]

• Sainsbury's says almost everyone now shops in store.... [more]

• TikTok owner ByteDance earns praise from Chinese social media for rejecting US sell-or-ban ultimatum.... [more]

• TikTok ban won’t solve foreign influence, data privacy problems. China-owned TikTok is being targeted but US-based Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube are just as prone to foreign government exploitation .... [more]

• Official of China’s securities watchdog under investigation for ‘serious violation’ amid uptick in market regulation.... [more]

• Shares of Chinese electric vehicle stocks Li Auto Inc . (NASDAQ:LI), NIO Inc. (NIO) and XPeng Inc. (NYSE:XPEV) jumped Friday after Morgan Stanley analysts released notes covering the stocks, stating they see the share prices rising over the next 15 days..... [more]

• Huawei Technologies Co.’s latest smartphones carry a version of the advanced made-in-China processor it revealed last year, independent analysis revealed, underscoring the Chinese company’s ability to sustain production of the controversial chip..... [more]

• No limit to how low the yen will go. If Japan is supposedly back, why is the yen plumbing 34-year lows and the BOJ lack the courage to stop the free fall?.... [more]

• What's behind a dramatic fall in Indian families' savings? For decades, India has been a nation of savers. They stash away a significant portion of their earnings for future security, often at the expense of current consumption. But something seems to be amiss now. Recent data from the Reserve Bank of India says India's net household savings stood at a 47-year-old low..... [more]

• Five times the size of Paris. Visible from space. The world’s biggest energy plant. Enough electricity to power Switzerland. The scale of the project transforming swathes of barren salt desert on the edge of western India into one of the most important sources of clean energy anywhere on the planet is so overwhelming that the man in charge can’t keep up. “I don’t even do the math any more,” Sagar Adani told CNN in an interview last week..... [more]