Pacific Perspectives
What we learnt: Donald who? AGL’s $1b battery bet and love for EVs get thumbs up
AGL still loves electric vehicles, Suncorp’s profit jump might be too big for its own good and is CBA balance sheet beyond reproach? The big result | Donald who? Nuclear what? AGL Energy, which supplies power…
ASX tips a stronger year for new listings on back of Chemist Warehouse
The market’s positive reception for Chemist Warehouse’s merger into Sigma Healthcare on Thursday should trigger more equity market listings this year, the ASX’s chief executive, Helen Lofthouse, said. In its interim results, ASX said the number of…
Dow closes more than 300 points higher as Trump holds off on imposing new tariffs, Nvidia jumps: Live updates
Stocks rose Thursday as new inflation data and updates on U.S. tariff plans appeared to ease some concerns around inflationary pressures and global trade tensions. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 342.87 points, or 0.77%, to 44,711.43.…
Trump froze a bribery law that previously hit suppliers for Elon Musk’s Tesla
Points The anti-bribery law whose enforcement President Donald Trump has suspended was previously used by the Department of Justice and financial regulators to win settlements totaling more than $1.5 billion from companies that are major suppliers for Tesla, the electric vehicle giant…
Suncorp confident it can rise to challenge of Queensland floods
The deadly northern Queensland floods will not force national insurance premiums higher, Suncorp chief executive Steve Johnston said, but the inundation will test insurers’ ability to restore their social licence, after fumbling a major flood…
Investors wary of busting CBA share price bubble
Commonwealth Bank can do no wrong by the sharemarket and put more distance between its ballooning valuation and blue-chip stablemates such as CSL and BHP with its latest profit update. CBA’s share price defied the…
ASX to rise, IAG profits soar
Australian share futures were modestly higher on Thursday, as investors await a slew of company results reporting across the bourse. ASX futures were just 8 points, or 0.1 per cent, higher at 8am, suggesting the…
Hopes for more Fed rate cuts dim as Powell notes hot CPI means ‘we’re not quite there yet’
A Federal Reserve interest rate cut won’t be coming until at least September, if at all this year, following a troubling inflation report Wednesday, according to updated market pricing. Futures markets shifted from the expectation…
Powell squashes the possibility that the Fed will develop its own digital currency
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell asserted Tuesday that the central bank will not develop its own digital currency as long as he is in charge. Ending several years of speculation whether the Fed would join…
Powell tells Congress Fed still in no rush to lower rates
Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said the US central bank doesn’t need to rush to adjust interest rates, again signalling that officials will be patient before lowering borrowing costs further. “With our policy stance now…