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The Australian dollar has jumped sharply on better than expected Chinese economic data.
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Tighter credit settings were having a greater effect on the residential property industry than any Labor plan to make negative gearing tax perks available only to investors in new property, Mirvac chief executive Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz said. Ms Lloyd-Hurwitz, in Perth to kickstart the last component of the $354 million Latitude at Leighton urban renewal project, said she did not think Labor’s negative gearing proposal would have any impact on Mirvac.
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A Northern Territory economist has cast doubt on the likelihood of success of a 10-year plan to fix the NT budget and boost the flagging economy, arguing future politics will override the Government's ability to sustain the plan. The Gunner Government yesterday unveiled its response to the 72 recommendations made by former WA under-treasurer John Langoulant, designed to deliver $11.2 billion in savings over a decade and help the budget return to surplus by 2027/28.
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Malaysian Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin accused Lynas Corp of putting its bottom line before the environmental concerns of local Malays in a letter to the company's employees last year, and it appears that her hard line stance against the controversial rare earths group is prevailing. Malaysian Government officials, told the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on Wednesday that Lynas Corp still needs to remove more than 450,000 tonnes of radioactive waste from the country for its licence to be renewed in September.
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Mining companies feel the heat over climate change precedent. A landmark decision in the NSW Land and Environment Court to knock back a new open-cut coalmine in the Hunter Valley based on its contribution to climate change is looming over other projects around the state
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BHP Group, the world's biggest miner, has joined rival Rio Tinto in cutting its forecast for iron ore output after a tropical cyclone, although analysts expect high prices to limit any impact on profits. Cyclone Veronica tore down the coast of Western Australia in March, hitting several iron ore export hubs, in a return of more turbulent weather conditions after several moderate years.
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Saracen Mineral Holdings says its target of becoming a 400,000 ounce per annum gold producer is on track after the miner posted record quarterly gold production in the three months to the end of March. The Raleigh Finlayson-led company produced 89,208oz in the period at all-in sustaining costs of 1035/oz.
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Australia's No.2 independent gas producer Santos Ltd has posted record quarterly production, boosted by its acquisition of Quadrant Energy assets, while sales revenue jumped 28 per cent. Santos said production for the quarter ended March 31 rose to a record 18.4 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe), up from 13.8 mmboe last year.Shares of Santos, which was founded in 1954, have risen about 29 per cent this year, as of last close.
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Collapsed wave energy hopeful Carnegie Clean Energy had just over $3,000 cash in the bank when it called in the administrators last month. And its administrators have revealed the highest of four bids it managed to attract for its solar microgrid company was just $200,000 — with one for just $40,000 — well short of the $13 million cash and shares deal it sealed with the business in 2016.
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Mining contractor Ausdrill has sacked an employee after discovering $10 million of fraudulent payments over eight years. An investigation by the WA-based company identified an Australian-based employee who appeared to have authorised and concealed payments to an invalid supplier totalling about $10 million over eight years.
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Shares in DuluxGroup have soared more than 27 per cent to a record high after its board backed a $3.8 billion acquisition proposal by Japanese paint giant Nippon. The Australian paint and homeware company recommended on Wednesday its shareholders approve the scheme of arrangement with Nippon, which is valued at $9.80 per share in cash inclusive of a 15 cent per share interim dividend intended to be paid by Dulux.
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Dairy farmer slams supermarket’s milk price rise as Woolies hands over $10 million to industry. Woolworths say its milk price rise has delivered $10 million to the industry but one farmer says it’s not enough.
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The High Court has ruled a Queensland law banning political donations from property developers is valid. The law was introduced last year to crack down on corruption and increase transparency.
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A British-born company director of a WA mining services company has been sentenced to a 31/2year jail term over a fraud involving nearly $530,000. Christopher Edward Eric Skelly, of Brisbane, was found guilty in the Perth District Court earlier this month of one charge of intent to defraud after tricking a factoring agency into paying $529,380 in false debts.
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A NSW restaurant business which allegedly underpaid migrant workers by more than $400,000 has had its assets frozen by the Federal Court of Australia. The Adithya Kerala restaurant business, which operates two restaurants in Nowra and Wollongong, has come under fire for the second time, with a second chef coming forward and claiming he is owed $230,000 in unpaid wages.
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The heads of two major central banks have written a stark warning about the financial risks of climate change. Bank of England governor Mark Carney and France's François Villeroy de Galhau set out the dangers to the global economy in an open letter.
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Democratic lawmakers investigating President Donald Trump's finances announced Tuesday they have issued subpoenas to several banks, including Deutsche Bank, as part of a probe into "potential foreign influence" in US elections. The subpoenas were announced by the heads of the House intelligence and financial services committees, which are looking into the president's finances as part of a larger probe into election meddling by Russia.
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Europe threatens tariffs on American ketchup, cheese and fish over Boeing subsidies. The European Union has threatened tariffs on US goods including cheese, ketchup and fish because of a long-running dispute over aircraft subsidies. The bloc released a list of American products worth around $20 billion on Wednesday that could be targeted over US subsidies given to Boeing (BA).
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US and Japanese negotiators opened the first round of trade talks on Monday in thelatest front in President Donald Trump's aggressive, multi-pronged strategy to address "chronic US trade imbalances." US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer welcomed the team from Tokyo led by Japan's Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi at the start of two days of talks looking for a rapid deal.
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Bank of America reported higher first-quarter earnings on lower expenses and loan growth Tuesday, with executives describing US growth as still solid. Net profits were $6.9 billion, up 5.8 percent from the year-ago level.
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Morgan Stanley reported a 9 percent drop in quarterly earnings on Wednesday, but managed to beat analyst estimates through slight growth in its wealth management business, as well as cost cuts.
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iPhone maker Apple and American microchip manufacturer Qualcomm said Tuesday they have agreed to "dismiss all litigation" against each other in a sprawling battle over royalty payments. The deal includes a six-year license agreement with the option to extend for two years, and a payment to Qualcomm from Apple, the companies said.
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Uber Technologies Inc is nearing a deal with a group, including SoftBank Group Corp, to invest in its self-driving car unit to be valued at $7.25 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
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Italy's competition authority said Tuesday it had opened an investigation into Amazon for possible abuse of its dominant position in online commerce and logistics. The authority said it suspected that the retail giant had been giving preferential exposure to third-party vendors on its platform only if they subscribed to Amazon's logistics service.
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China's economy could be showing renewed signs of life in 2019. The world's second-biggest economy grew slightly more than expected in the first quarter of 2019, Chinese government figures showed Wednesday. It expanded by 6.4% compared to a year ago, beating economists' forecasts of 6.3%.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk's massive gamble on China could be thwarted by local rivals. Even by Elon Musk's standards, his Shanghai plan is ambitious: take 86 hectares of muddy farmland on the outskirts of the city's peninsula and start rolling out Chinese-made Tesla Model 3s within a year.
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