The Australian share market got a boost on Tuesday as investors on Wall Street felt optimistic ahead of inflation data.
See how the trading day unfolded on our blog.
Disclaimer: this blog is not intended as investment advice.
Key events
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Live updates
ASX 200 ends up 0.3pc thanks to IT and finance
By Emilia Terzon
The ASX 200 has gained 0.3pc on Tuesday, while the All Ords has gained a similar amount.
8 of 11 sectors ended higher. As you can see below, we had lots of financial and IT stocks pushing up the pack.
We hope you were a winner today.
And if you weren't?
Well ASX 200 futures are currently up 0.4 per cent for tomorrow.
We'll see you then again on our live blog.
#ICYMI Elon Musk booed on stage in the US
By Emilia Terzon
Cripes, not a good day to be a tech bro.
First SBF, now Elon Musk. Admittedly, the founder of Tesla is facing less heat, in the form of being booed by crowds.
Here's a story filed by Velvet Winter at ABC News.
Here's our finance reporter Dave Chau on FTX
By Emilia Terzon
David Chau spoke about the arrest of disraced crypto bro Sam Bankman-Fried on the ABC News channel today.
Administrators seeking 'urgent' offers to buy collapsed crypto broker
By Emilia Terzon
Business reporter Emilia Terzon back on deck here, after I ducked out to deal with that developing news about FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried being arrested in the Bahamas.
In other crypto news, KordaMentha says it's "urgently" seeking EOIs for the sale or recapitalisation of Digital Surge.
The Brisbane-based broker's woes are tied to FTX.
I've spoken to numerous Digital Surge clients since it's woes started last month, who are anxiously awaiting news about Digital Surge's voluntary administration.
30,000 of them have had their assets frozen for weeks.
Here's a story I filed just a few days ago when Digital Surge called in KordaMentha.
Woodside slams Federal Government intervention in gas market
By Sue Lannin
Oil and gas giant Woodside Energy is not happy about plans by the Albanese government to cap gas prices in an attempt to curb soaring energy costs.
On Friday, the nation's leaders agreed to temporarily cap the prices of gas and coal, with a cap of $12 a gigajoule for gas, and $125 a tonne for coal.
Federal Parliament will be recalled to vote on the plans on Thursday.
There's echoes of the opposition we saw against the mining super profits tax, which was introduced back in July 2012, and which was scrapped by the Abbott government in 2014.
Woodside said in a statement that it fully supports policies that aim to bring down the cost of living pressures for households.
However, it argues that the government's plan to intervene in the gas market "will not meet this objective and could make matters worse."
Woodside is calling on the federal government to reconsider what it's calling "unprecedented intervention."
But you have to remember that gas firms are making huge profits from soaring energy prices, while households and businesses are seeing their power bills soar.
And that is very unpopular.
Essentially, gas firms can make much more money selling gas overseas than at home because gas prices have soared because of the war in Ukraine.
Here's Woodside boss, Meg O'Neill.
"The policy will not address falling domestic gas supply and the increasingly critical role of gas in providing dispatchable power."
" These are the primary factors that are driving higher energy prices in the east coast gas market, rather than solely the impact of the tragic war in Ukraine."
"We need to unlock gas supply now. "
"For example, Woodside has been looking at options to increase supply, including through new LNG import terminals, exploration spending and further development on the east coast."
"Unfortunately, the proposed market intervention will make it very difficult for industry to economically invest to increase supply."
"No one wants to see energy shortages and gas rationing. "
"We must develop a comprehensive, longer-term solution that addresses gas supply and reliability, the overall energy mix and infrastructure, without undermining the market-based economy," she said.
ASX higher at midday
By Sue Lannin
It's been a busy morning with executives from casino group Star being sued by the corporate regulator and disgraced former crypto king Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly being arrested in the Bahamas.
But time now for a quick check of the markets.
- The ASX is up 0.6 per cent to 7,221 after big gains on Wall street.
- Most sectors are higher with industrials, banks and tech stocks among the gainers.
- Miners are taking the biggest hit.
- The Australian dollar is up 0.1 per cent to around 67.52 US cents.
Meanwhile businesses are feeling less confident despite strong conditions
By Sue Lannin
While consumers are slightly more confident because they think the Reserve Bank may not raise interest rates as much as feared and they expect housing prices to start rising again, companies are less optimistic.
National Australia Bank's latest survey found that business confidence turned negative last month, although business conditions remained positive, albeit falling by 2 points.
Manufacturing, wholesale and mining lead the way, but conditions were softer in construction, finance, business and property.
Confidence fell below zero for the first time since December 2021, when it slumped amid the spread of the coronavirus and lockdowns.
However, companies are worried that the economy's strength is set to come to an end next year.
Here's NAB's analysis.
"As of November, confidence is once again in negative territory, this time due to the expected impacts of high inflation and rising interest rates on the global economy."
"However, it remains to be seen if these fears will be realised over the coming months."
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly arrested in the Bahamas
By Emilia Terzon
The FTX fallout continues.
Crypto bro Sam Bankman-Fried has reportedly been arrested in the Bahamas ahead of a possible extradition to the US.
You can read all about it as we update this breaking story.
Westpac says consumers are feeling a bit more confident
By Sue Lannin
Good morning, I'm business reporter Sue Lannin and Emilia is kindly letting me gatecrash today's market blog.
Westpac and the Melbourne Institute say consumer confidence increased slightly from November to December.
Consumer sentiment lifted by 3 per cent from 78 last month to 80.3 this month.
But the bad news is that it is still near recession lows and pessimists still outnumber optimists.
Here's what Westpac economist Bill Evans had to say.
"Despite this welcome lift the level of the Index remains comparable with the lows seen during the COVID pandemic and the global financial crisis."
"December's 3 per cent rise follows a disastrous 6.9 per cent drop in November that saw the Index collapse to just 78 – one of the weakest reads recorded outside of a recession."
Here's what is moving and shaking on the ASX in early trade
By Emilia Terzon
Tough time to be an energy stock.
This is how we're looking at 10:20am AEDT
By Emilia Terzon
- ASX 200: +0.4pc to 7,210
- All Ords: +0.4pc to 7,398
- Aussie dollar: 67.52 US cents
- On Wall Street: Dow +0.9pc, S&P 500 +0.7pc, Nasdaq +0.5pc
- In Europe: Stoxx 600 -0.5pc, FTSE -0.4pc, DAX -0.5pc
- Spot gold: -1pc at $US1,792 an ounce
- Brent crude: +2.7pc $US78.12 a barrel
- Iron ore: $US110.48 a tonne.
- Bitcoin: -0.4pc to $US17,063
More on Star's looming court woes from ABC News
By Emilia Terzon
You can read more about ASIC's action against 11 Star executives in this piece by ABC News reporter Heath Parkes-Hupton.
Why Wall Street appears to be feeling peppier
By Emilia Terzon
Wall Street had a shocker last week but as you'll see in today's data release, the main indexes all made strong gains in Monday (US time) trade.
One of the big things that's been shaking up markets all year is inflation or price spike woes, which can push central banks to up the ante on interest rates.
Tomorrow, the US will have its latest round of inflation data released, and it looks like consumers are feeling optimistic.
That's according to a New York Federal Reserve survey released Monday, that CNBC in the US is reporting on.
Economists are broadly agreeing that the latest CPI data won't be as shocking as previous rounds.
"Consensus expectations sit at 0.3pc m/m for both the headline and core measures," ANZ notes this morning.
"Service prices ex-rents will be the most important aspect of the report, as that is where the Fed is concerned that prices may prove sticky at high levels."
The US Federal Reserve is also meeting on the same day that the CPI data is being released, where it'll mull over another rate hike to be announced the next day.
You can safely assume they'll be watching the CPI data.
Shell pausing expansion amid gas price caps
By Emilia Terzon
The ramifications from the federal government's move to cap gas and coal prices is starting …
Gas giant Shell says it is suspending accepting new bids for gas it had agreed to supply Australia's east coast.
The deal was brokered with other major gas producers with the federal government in September to help stave off shortfalls.
But now Shell says the price cap plan may conflict with the agreement and it's suspending expressions of interest.
Confused? Here's a backgrounder on the plan to cap prices by the ABC's energy reporter Daniel Mercer.
ASIC takes action against 11 Star executives
By Emilia Terzon
In some breaking news this morning …
The corporate watchdog has launched court action against 11 current and former directors and officers of The Star Entertainment Group.
ASIC alleges Star's board and directors failed to give sufficient focus to the risk of money laundering and criminal associations, which it says are inherent in the operation of a large casino with an international customer base.
ASIC's case includes claims against former chair John O'Neill and former managing director and CEO Matthias Bekier.
Earlier this year, Star Casino in Sydney was fined $100m by the NSW Independent Casino Commission following allegations of money laundering, organised crime links and fraud.
Breaches of director’s duties can attract fines of up to $1,050,000 for each breach.
Here's where we're sitting at 7:30am AEDT
By Emilia Terzon
- ASX SPI 200 futures: +0.2pc to 7,181
- Aussie dollar: 67.45 US cents
- On Wall Street: Dow +0.9pc, S&P 500 +0.7pc, Nasdaq +0.5pc
- In Europe: Stoxx 600 -0.5pc, FTSE -0.4pc, DAX -0.5pc
- Spot gold: -1pc at $US1,792 an ounce
- Brent crude: +2.7pc $US78.12 a barrel
- Iron ore: $US110.48 a tonne.
- Bitcoin: -0.4pc to $US17,063
ASX set to cruise as Wall Street rebounds
By Emilia Terzon
Good morning!
Emilia Terzon from the ABC's business team with you here, on my first shift on our lovely new live markets blog. I hope you're ready for some daggy finance memes.
Right now, the ASX 200 is looking like it will open flat this morning. Futures are just shy of +0.1pc higher.
That's despite Wall Street jumping higher in US trading overnight, after big losses last week.
The blue-chip Dow gained +0.9pc. The S&P 500 gained +0.7pc, while the tech heavy Nasdaq added +0.5pc.
We also have some news from gas giant Shell this morning, as it reacts to the federal government's move to cap prices on gas and coal prices.
Grab a cup of coffee and we'll have more on that soon.
