Pacific Perspectives
Banks jack up fixed rates faster than RBA as funding pain deepens
Major banks have raised fixed mortgage rates by almost double the Reserve Bank of Australia’s recent increase in the cash rate as the industry faces mounting funding pressure in a slowing economy. The RBA raised…
Chalmers’ spending grows at twice the budget forecast
Federal government spending grew more than twice as fast as forecast last financial year, fuelling economists’ concerns that promises of budget restraint are falling short of reality and intensifying calls for Treasurer Jim Chalmers to…
ASX to rise, Nasdaq resets record highs even as bond yields surge
Australian shares are poised to open higher. The Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.1 per cent in New York, resetting both its intraday and closing records even as US bond yields pressed higher too. S&P/ASX 200 Index…
SpaceX stock climbs to highest since June, returning Musk to trillionaire status
SpaceX shares rose almost 8% on Monday, reaching their highest since mid-June, shortly after Elon Musk’s company held its record initial public offering. With the rally, Musk is once again a trillionaire. The jump followed…
America’s data center fight is a preview of what’s to come for the rest of the world
As the AI boom becomes a major part of political debate, the public backlash against data centers in the U.S. is spreading to Europe and Asia — raising risks for investors. Across the Atlantic, negative…
Orora on spill alert as investors blast bonus plans, share price crash
Major investors are threatening to spill the board of Orora with growing frustration over bonuses paid to chief executive Brian Lowe despite a long stretch of underperformance and disquiet over a strategy that has included…
RBA rate relief more than a year away, leaving family budgets squeezed
Interest rates are unlikely to fall for more than a year, piling pressure on the federal government to restrain spending as family budgets stretch to accommodate four interest rate increases since February. That was the…
ASX to rise despite investors on ‘red alert’ over bond market meltdown
The Australian sharemarket is set to rise on Monday despite investors on high alert for any contagion spreading from a volatile global bond market into equities. Futures indicate the S&P/ASX 200 will open 0.3 per…
G7 nations to release diesel stocks as wars in Europe and Middle East constrain fuel supplies
The Group of Seven nations agreed Friday to release 100 million barrels of reserves to address surging diesel fuel prices, after the Trump administration pushed Europe to deploy their stocks. The G7 leaders said the…
Hedge funds hold a record share of the $30 trillion Treasury market. What could go wrong?
Hedge funds are becoming a force to be reckoned with in the roughly $30 trillion U.S. Treasury market, stepping in at a time when some traditional long-term investors have been looking at other options. The…