April 2024

The chances rose Tuesday that the European Central Bank will be the first major central bank to cut interest rates, as early as June. This comes after euro area inflation remained unchanged in April at 2.4% (according to the first estimate), and the area returned to economic growth in the three months to March. Headline […]

Ahead of its third-quarter sales update on Thursday, Woolworths (ASX:WOW) has sprung a surprise by revealing the sale of more than half of its retained holding in the grog, pubs, and pokies group, Endeavour, for $468 million. The proceeds will be used to fund a buyback later this year. The retailer stated it would hang

A newsy Tuesday for the global banking giant HSBC Holdings: it lost a CEO, who is retiring; revealed a dip in earnings for the three months to March 31; announced another $US3 billion in buybacks for the year; and a small rise in its first dividend for 2024. The new buybacks take the total so

For markets, April was like a famous quote from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities – “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times” – starting with promise, running up, and then taking a crunching in the final days of the month. Gold saw an absolute whacking on Tuesday as

US stocks tumbled overnight to close out a losing month after higher-than-expected wage data raised new inflation concerns ahead of the Federal Reserve’s rate decision on Wednesday. The Labor Department has stated that the employment cost index, a measure of wages and benefits, grew 1.2 per cent in the first quarter of the year, above

Business media got all excited about the quarterly results from Amazon, which were much better than expected. However, the outlook was weaker than expected for another quarter. As a result, the shares, which had fallen more than 3% in Tuesday’s sell-off, could only manage a 2.9% gain in sparse after-hours dealings. The online giant revealed

In an ominous sign, shares in the auto products group Bapcor (ASX:BAP) were halted on Tuesday ahead of a trading update, which is expected to outline sliding sales and profits. Simultaneously, the company’s incoming CEO, Paul Dumbrell, is no longer incoming, quitting two days before assuming the role at the company that owns the well-known

Australian shares closed higher on Tuesday, with the S&P/ASX 200 advancing 0.4% to 7664.1 points, supported by gains in lithium miners, while investors exercised caution ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s policy meeting for insights into interest rates amidst persistent inflation concerns. Despite the day’s gains, the index fell 3% in April, with eight out

As suspected by foreign economists, activity across the Chinese economy expanded in April, though at a slower rate than seen in March’s rebound. The official Manufacturing survey slowed to a still positive expansion rate of 50.4 in April from March’s 12-month high of 50.8. The reading was slightly stronger than market forecasts of 50.3. Data

Australian retail sales growth vanished when Taylor Swift flew out of Australia at the end of her seven-concert, two-week tour in February. March data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday showed retail turnover fell 0.4% in March after a 0.2% rise in February and a 1% jump in January (which followed a slide