August 18, 2024

Gold prices surged on Friday, notching their 28th all-time settlement high for the year so far, with the precious metal finding new support. Some analysts attempted to explain the surge—especially on Friday—as investors seeking a safe haven. However, the way equity markets have traded higher makes that view seem illogical. If anything, it appears to […]

Oil prices mixed by the end of last week, with US crude types lagging a bit while Brent was slightly stronger. This shift occurred despite the ongoing disagreement between OPEC and the International Energy Agency (IEA) regarding demand strength over the next few months. OPEC and its allies, led by Russia in the OPEC+ group,

Kiwi casino operator SkyCity Entertainment (ASX:SKC) has warned of an estimated $86.2 million impairment charge on its Adelaide operation. The company has also increased its debt capacity to weather what it expects to be a tough year ahead. The company attributed the impairment to the impact of new mandatory card play rules at the casino

Now there are three American megacaps back in the over $3 trillion club on Wall Street, thanks to last week’s rebound, particularly in Nvidia shares. Apple leads with its value up 4.6% to $3.44 trillion. Microsoft has recovered, moving away from the edge of the $3 trillion mark to end the week up 2.8% at

Two weeks after Japanese stock markets fell sharply following the Bank of Japan’s rate rise, the tremors have subsided, as Japan’s Nikkei index enjoyed its second strongest day of trading in 2024. On August 5, the Nikkei ended with a 12% slump—down from an earlier 17% decline—amidst panic and mayhem. It was only the soothing

Westpac (ASX:WBC) has followed rivals, CBA, and NAB in reporting a flat revenue performance for the three months to June. However, unlike the other two banks, Westpac said it lifted net profit by 6% to $1.8 billion, steady on the previous quarter. Revenue remained flat at $5.4 billion for the quarter. The bank reported an

Led by markets in the US, Japan, and Australia, world stock markets had their best week in nine months last week. Wall Street could now return to its July highs in the coming days after experiencing the best week of the year so far. Interestingly, a columnist in the Weekend Financial Times explained that small

Central bank minutes, mid-month surveys of business activity in major economies, a significant Fed speech and meeting at the end of the week, more earnings reports here and offshore, and continuing interest rate speculation are becoming tiresome. Here in Australia, it’s the RBA August meeting minutes tomorrow and a busy week for corporates reporting their

While the positive global lead and a reasonable start to the June half profit reporting season saw Australian shares rise by 2.5% last week, today’s trading is expected to be on the low side due to a weak futures lead on Friday night. On Friday, the ASX 200 Index jumped 105.6 points, or 1.3%, to

The next five days will mark the first of two peak weeks for Australian June 30 earnings, with 64 ASX 200 companies reporting between this morning and Friday. Up to last Friday, around a third of the ASX 200 had reported, with results on the whole being okay but not outstanding, except for JB Hi-Fi.