Business & Finance

Consumers can't avoid pessimism

Consumer sentiment has reverted back to ‘cautiously pessimistic’ levels according to Westpac. ‘Inflation’ remains the dominant news item, along with a sharp turnaround in mortgage rate expectations. As a result, the Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment fell 9% to 94.5 point in December , after it had edged up above 100 in November, the only time since reopening from the Covid-19 pandemic. While ‘international conditions’ has become a much less prominent topic, cons

Marius Mariton

4 days ago1 min read

When Dr. Copper gets sick

The S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.72% to 8,635 points as it opened the last full trading week of 2025. AI bubble fears sent Wall Street lower, with these losses reverberating locally this Monday, in addition to weaknesses in the miners. With copper giving back recent gains, and iron ore prices also lower, diversified miner BHP dropped by 2.9%. Fortescue also shed 1%, on the day it flagged plans to fully acquire a Peruvian copper miner. Meanwhile the ASX stock itself was in t

Marius Mariton

5 days ago1 min read

Cost concerns for Rio Tinto

Morgan Stanley has published a note on Rio Tinto, following the miner's Capital market Day. The investment bank rates the stock 'equal-weight', with a $129.50 target price. The stock has just reached a record high of around $140 on stronger copper prices, but the bank warns of higher capex in FY27, before being reduced due to lower decarbonisation spending. Morgan Stanley says the Capital Market Day was slightly below expectations which may lead to some rotation into BHP . A

Marius Mariton

Dec 52 min read

Broker Moves: Holding on to Xero until the end of the financial year?

Both Jefferies and Morningstar are flagging customer growth risks for Xero. The brokers says customer growth is being impacted by price hikes, and noted the difficulty to win new customers in a mature ANZ market. Jefferies has cut its price target to $135.50 per share, while retaining it's 'hold' rating. However, Citi has retained its 'buy' on Xero , with potential US upsides following the Melio acquisition. Meanwhile - Morningstar is forecasting subdued growth earnings for t

Marius Mariton

Nov 141 min read

Big bank blues

Higher commodity prices overnight were not enough to compensate for the weakness seen in CBA

Marius Mariton

Nov 111 min read

Coles picked the fastest lane

A batch of companies are reporting on the September quarter today... Starting with Coles , reporting a 3.9% increase in sales revenue growth. This was pushed by a 4.8% growth in Supermarkets revenue, while it was down 1.1% for the liquor segment. Meanwhile, eCommerce sales grew across both segments. Sales growth seem to be higher than Woolworth's , up 4.6% in Supermarkets and down 1.4% in Liquor, while Woolies reported a 2.7% sales growth on Wednesday. Coles adds that at the

Marius Mariton

Oct 301 min read

Santos gets Minns's stamp of approval

Santos is considering the development of gas facilities, but faces obstacles from landholders and fields owners

Marius Mariton

Oct 291 min read

China's slowing GDP growth

China's third quarter GDP growth has slowed to its lowest level in a year, up 4.8%, compared to 5.2% over the previous quarter. This was in line with expectations as a prolonged property slump and trade tensions hurt demand, keeping pressure on policymakers to roll out more stimulus. On a quarterly basis, GDP grew 1.1% in the third quarter, compared with a forecast of 0.8% While China's export growth rebounded in September, much of the recent data show the world's second-la

Marius Mariton

Oct 201 min read