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Topic:Stock Market
A fall on Wall Street is likely to send Australian stocks lower, as investors exercised caution ahead of a monetary policy decision from the Federal Reserve, while gauging the potential impact of President Donald Trump's tariff policies.
We'll bring you the latest on what's happening on the markets throughout the day in our live blog.
Disclaimer: this blog is not intended as investment advice.
By Samuel Yang
Price current around 7:50am AEDT
Live updates on the major ASX indices:
By Samuel Yang
By Samuel Yang
China's latest economic data has boosted sentiment in commodity prices, particularly copper, which has risen to a 10-month high following another stimulus announcement by Beijing.
Senior investment adviser at Bell Potter Securities, Giuliano Sala Tenna says instead of focusing on iron ore and building infrastructure, China is moving towards a consumption-based economy.
He says the changing Chinese economy will be good for EVs and copper, but the downturn in property markets, which haven't recovered from the pre-COVID years are weighing on iron ore prices.
However, gold has risen to an all-time high as a result of market volatility caused by trade wars and US tariffs.
Mr Sala Tenna says "the markets can't deal with uncertainty."
Watch this interview from business host Nadia Daly.
By Samuel Yang
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has lowered expectations about any spending surprises in the upcoming federal budget.
During his pre-budget speech on the economic outlook, he says the whole world has changed since the inauguration of the US president, and as a trading nation, Australia has a lot at stake.
It comes as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is predicting lower economic growth next year because of the market uncertainty created by Donald Trump's trade war and tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Australia and potentially Europe.
ABC chief business correspondent Ian Verrender explains the direct impacts of the tariffs on Australia will be minimal – about 0.02 per cent hit to the economy.
But the indirect impacts to Australia will be about 4 times that, to about 0.1 per cent.
He says another concern is the prospect of inflation breaking out again.
Mr Verrender says we shouldn't expect any spending surprises or cuts in the upcoming federal budget.
But it's not all bad news, RBA chief economist Sarah Hunter said household disposable income increased in the December quarter and spending has picked up.
Watch this interview from business host Nadia Daly.
By Samuel Yang
A new report from the Clean Energy Investor Group (CEIG) shows without renewables and battery storage, households and businesses would have faced wholesale electricity prices up to $80/MWh higher in 2024, along with an increased risk of blackouts.
CEIG’s modelling isolates the full downward pressure renewables place on power prices, comparing the 2024 grid to one reliant on coal and gas.
The report found without renewables, the power shortfall would likely be filled by expensive open-cycle gas turbine (OCGT) generation, increasing total system costs and making energy less affordable.
It also found greater reliance on ageing coal-fired plants would strain already outdated infrastructure, risking blackouts and price spikes.
It added that more gas would be diverted away from manufacturing and industry, pushing up costs.
CEO of the Clean Energy Investor Group, Richie Merzian said this new research reinforces data from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), the Australian Energy Regulator (AER), the CSIRO, and the latest report from the Clean Energy Council that all show renewables are the cheapest form of energy.
“The cost of power is a very real issue confronting every householder but what our data makes clear is that prices would be even higher without renewable energy.
“Australia needs more renewable energy, not less, to achieve sustained power price reductions.
“The challenge for government is to ensure there is a smooth transition from a costly system reliant on coal and gas to cheaper renewables backed by batteries.
“With the right policies, private investment is ready to assist but policies that undermine confidence and freeze renewable energy investment mean the taxpayer will end up footing the bill for energy production, and will then have to pay higher power prices as well.”
By Samuel Yang
Around 75,000 battery storage systems were installed last year, up 47 per cent from 2023.
Current modelling estimates the payback time on a battery system at around eight years for a typical household.
A wide range of experts, including a former RBA deputy governor, are calling for the federal government to introduce household battery subsidies to encourage uptake.
Read more from business reporter Rhiana Whitson.
By Samuel Yang
Credit reporting agency CreditorWatch has released the February results for its Business Risk Index, showing Australian businesses remain under pressure across key metrics.
Cost increases and household cost-of-living pressures continue to impact the hospitality sector, with closures hitting a record high of 9.3% — that's one in 11 businesses — in the 12 months to February 2025, up from 7.1% in the 12 months to February 2024.
The business closures rate comprises voluntary and involuntary administrations, ASIC strike-offs, deregistrations of solvent businesses and voluntary closures.
The report says the food and beverage services sector has struggled under cost pressures from food price increases, energy and insurance price rises, wage increases and higher rents.
Businesses in CBDs have also experienced a drop in trade as more people work from home. At the same time, their customers have experienced cost-of-living pressures and reduced discretionary spending.
"The expected slowdown in economic growth from the widespread US tariff regime will, unfortunately but inevitably, result in higher insolvencies," CreditorWatch CEO Patrick Coghlan said.
"After a tough couple of years managing higher inflation, interest rate increases and lower demand, I certainly hope Australia businesses are spared the worst of it.
"We encourage businesses to take steps now to manage that risk, whether it is reviewing credit policies, running a portfolio health check or monitoring customers more closely."
Meanwhile, insolvencies rose in February after having dipped in December and January to below the November high. They continue to trend strongly upward, the report says.
CreditorWatch's chief economist, Ivan Colhoun said, "given the economic and cost pressures and continuing high levels of accumulated ATO tax debt, it's too early to expect the level of insolvencies to reduce much in the period immediately ahead".
By Samuel Yang
US stocks fell on Tuesday, snapping a two-session streak of gains.
The Fed will release its latest policy statement at 5am AEDT Thursday, where the central bank is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged, along with its updated summary of economic projections (SEP).
Markets are currently pricing in about 60 basis points of cuts from the Fed this year, although several US central bank officials have cautioned against the Fed moving too quickly on rates and said they would wait to see the impact of tariffs in economic data before making any policy shifts.
"There's just great uncertainty here about the tariffs, how extensive they are going to be, how that's going to economically impact us, how much the Fed might ease eventually and the economy in general," said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York.
"There is a lot of confusion out there, and when there's confusion, when there isn't a real opportunity for stocks to go up and for companies to expand and make more money, there's fear."
Adding to inflation concerns, US import prices unexpectedly rose in February amid higher costs for consumer goods.
Stocks had recently shown some signs of stabilising after several weeks of declines that sent the S&P 500 and Nasdaq down more than 10% from their recent highs, also known as correction territory.
The blue-chip Dow is slightly more than 2% away from reaching correction levels.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump agreed to seek a limited 30-day ceasefire against energy and infrastructure targets in Ukraine, while talks aimed at advancing toward a broader peace plan will begin "immediately," the White House said.
Alphabet fell after the company said it would buy Wiz for about $US32 billion in its biggest deal as the Google parent doubles down on cybersecurity.
Nvidia shares declined. The company is expected to reveal details of its latest AI chip at its annual software developer conference.
Tesla slumped after brokerage RBC slashed its price target on the EV maker's stock to $US120 from $US320, citing reduced expectations for its full self-driving pricing and robotaxi market share. Its shares are now down nearly 45% on the year.
Reflecting the defensive tone, investors moved to safe-haven assets, with gold trading at a record high, after crossing $3,000 per ounce for the first time last week.
By Samuel Yang
Good morning and welcome to our Wednesday live blog, where we'll bring you the latest price action and news on the ASX and beyond.
A tumble on Wall Street overnight sets the tone for local market action today.
The Dow Jones index dropped 0.6 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 1.1 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite down 1.7 per cent.
ASX futures were down 52 points or 0.6 per cent to 7,808 at 7:00am AEDT.
At the same time, the Australian dollar was down 0.3 per cent to 63.92 US cents.
Brent crude oil was down 0.8 per cent, trading at $US70.50 a barrel.
Spot gold gained 1.1 per cent to $US3,034.07.
Iron ore lost 0.2 per cent to $US101.80 a tonne.
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