52m agoThu 14 Aug 2025 at 12:45amMarket snapshot<\/p>\n
Price current around 10:45am AEST<\/p>\n
Live updates on the major ASX indices:<\/b><\/p>\n
4m agoThu 14 Aug 2025 at 1:34am<\/p>\n
Full-time employment drives job gains, female participation hits record high<\/p>\n
Here’s some analysis on the jobs numbers from the Bureau of Statistics press release<\/a>:<\/p>\n Growth in employment was driven by full-time employment, which was up by 60,000 people<\/b>, with a 36,000 person fall in part-time employment partly offsetting this rise. Female full-time workers grew by 40,000 while male full-time workers rose by 20,000<\/b>.<\/p>\n The growth in employment resulted in the employment-to-population ratio rising slightly to 64.2 per cent<\/b>. The participation rate stayed at 67.0 per cent. The female employment-to-population ratio and participation rate reached 60.9 per cent and 63.5 per cent respectively, both new historical highs<\/b>.<\/p>\n Hours worked rose 0.3 per cent in July<\/b>, slightly higher than the monthly employment growth (+0.2%).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n 7m agoThu 14 Aug 2025 at 1:31amUnemployment falls back to 4.2 per cent<\/p>\n The unemployment rate has fallen back to 4.2% with the creation of nearly 25,000 jobs last month.<\/p>\n The participation rate was relatively steady at 67 per cent, seasonally adjusted.<\/p>\n Economists surveyed by Reuters were typically expecting 25,000 jobs to be added last month and an unemployment rate of 4.2%.<\/p>\n 22m agoThu 14 Aug 2025 at 1:16amSouth32 shares down as Mozal smelter ‘deadlocked’<\/p>\n Shares in miner South32 are down 3.4 per cent<\/b>, as it flagged a financial hit from issues at is Mozambique smelter<\/b>.<\/p>\n The company it will take a $US372 million impairment <\/b>on its Mozal aluminium smelt and place the facility into care and maintenance once its current power supply agreement expires<\/b>.<\/p>\n The diversified miner had warned in July that it would face an impairment at Mozal during the 2025 financial year and was reviewing production after failing to secure affordable power beyond March 2026<\/b>. At the time, it did not disclose the size of the charge.<\/p>\n South32 said it has since continued engagement with the Mozambique government, hydroelectric producer Hidroel\u00e9ctrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB) and South African utility Eskom since July.<\/p>\n “These engagements do not provide confidence that Mozal will secure sufficient and affordable electricity beyond March 2026,” South32 said on Thursday.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n RBC Capital Markets <\/b>analyst Kaan Peker<\/b> said the “power deadlock casts doubt” on the outlook for the current financial year and long-term profitability, but note the risk was “well flagged”.<\/p>\n “The negotiations appear to be deadlocked. Increasingly, the future of the smelter is being called into question, which will be taken as a negative,” he wrote.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n HCB, majority-owned by the Mozambique government, is the primary power supplier to Mozal. When it cannot meet the smelter’s needs, Eskom steps in under the current agreement.<\/p>\n July was the second time South32 flagged impairments at its Mozal project. In December, nationwide protests in Mozambique disrupted operations and weighed on production.<\/p>\n Reporting with Reuters<\/b><\/p>\n 40m agoThu 14 Aug 2025 at 12:58amBroad-based gains as ASX recovers yesterday’s losses<\/p>\n The ASX 200 has bounced back<\/b> from Wednesday’s fall, up 0.6 per cent after almost an hour of trade.<\/p>\n The gains are broad-based, with most sectors on the rise:<\/p>\n The best performing stocks so far:<\/p>\n And the biggest falls:<\/p>\n It’s a change of fortunes from yesterday, with a major bank, Westpac, providing a boost the ASX, after reporting a more than 5 per cent rise in its quarterly profit, as margins increased.<\/p>\n That’s compared to CBA<\/b>, which is down another half a per cent <\/b>after a fall of more than 5 per cent yesterday on the back of its profit result.<\/p>\n 52m agoThu 14 Aug 2025 at 12:45am<\/p>\n Income gap between renters and home owners grows over time<\/p>\n Re the income gap between home owners and renters<\/p>\n Really? I\u2019m paying $1500 a week on my mortgage I\u2019d be lucky to rent it out for $1000-$1200. I have no doubt it\u2019s hard out there for renters but the grass isn\u2019t always greener on the other side <\/p>\n – Martha<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Hi Martha.<\/p>\n The point you make is true in the short-term … i.e. now.<\/p>\n But think about what happens over the long term.<\/p>\n Your mortgage payment is likely to decline a bit more as interest rates fall back to neutral levels.<\/p>\n Even if it doesn’t, inflation means your income should rise over time, so the $1,500 a week you are paying becomes smaller in real terms.<\/p>\n That’s why the first few years of a mortgage are generally the hardest.<\/p>\n Now think about the renter.<\/p>\n Sure, they might only pay a $1,000 a week in rent now, but their rent will rise broadly in line with inflation.<\/p>\n Even if rents only rise 2.5% per year, their rent will get to $1,500 a week in 15 years and your mortgage repayment will still probably be about $1,500 a week.<\/p>\n By the time you get close to paying off your 25-30 year mortgage, the renter will be paying a lot more in rent than you are in repayments.<\/p>\n Not only that, but once you have paid your mortgage off, then you are living in your home for “free” \u2014 sure there are rates and maintenance costs, etc, but you are not paying a mortgage or rent.<\/p>\n By contrast, the renter is still paying the now much higher (in nominal terms) rent.<\/p>\n Siminski and Wilkins are looking at lifetime incomes, and when you think about it this way you can see how they came to the conclusion that home owners end up, on average, 86% better off.<\/p>\n 1h agoThu 14 Aug 2025 at 12:35am<\/p>\n New all-time high for Bitcoin<\/p>\n Bitcoin has just smashed through to a new all-time high of $USD123,624, up 3.60 per cent overnight.<\/p>\n It’s ahead of its previous peak of $123,236, set exactly one month ago on July 14, 2025.<\/p>\n “Bitcoin’s rally is being powered by institutional flows and macro tailwinds,” IG’s Tony Sycamore wrote in a note.<\/p>\n “Corporate treasuries like MicroStrategy and Block Inc. continue to buy Bitcoin while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent\u2019s calls overnight for a 50bp Fed rate cut in September, and suggestions that the Fed funds rate is 150-175bp too high is fuelling expectations of looser policy.”<\/p>\n We’ll keep an eye out on Bitcoin for you through the day on the blog.<\/p>\n 1h agoThu 14 Aug 2025 at 12:28am<\/p>\n Insurance issues among ‘significant breaches’ at Mercer: ASIC<\/p>\n ASIC <\/b>has lodged legal proceedings against Mercer Super<\/b>, one of Australia’s largest funds, alleging it failed to report investigations into serious issues to the regulator<\/a>, as required by law.<\/p>\n Here’s some more detail from the corporate regulator:<\/p>\n Examples of these systems failures include, ASIC alleges, Mercer Super failing to report seven investigations at all, and another investigation being reported more than a year late, including investigations into:<\/p>\n -Insurance premiums not being refunded correctly after members had died<\/p>\n -Member accounts not being created with default insurance, and<\/p>\n -Updates to member information not being processed by the trustee.<\/p>\n ASIC also alleges Mercer Super provided false or misleading information in reports to ASIC, which understated the number of members who were impacted.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n ‘We allege a pattern of longstanding and systemic failure by Mercer Super to comply with the law,” ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court <\/b>said.<\/p>\n 1h agoThu 14 Aug 2025 at 12:11amASX opens higher despite CBA dipping again<\/p>\n We’re just 10 minutes into the session but the ASX 200 <\/b>is firmly higher, up 0.6 per cent <\/b>after falls of a similar magnitude yesterday.<\/p>\n That’s despite CBA<\/b> again declining, down a modest 0.3 per cent in early trade.<\/p>\n The positivity for the local market follows a strong session on Wall Street overnight.<\/p>\n 1h agoThu 14 Aug 2025 at 12:03amSuper fund Mercer sued by corporate regulator<\/p>\n The corporate regulator has launched legal proceedings against <\/b>one of Australia’s largest superannuation funds, Mercer Super<\/b>.<\/p>\n ASIC is alleging Mercer failed to inform the regulator about “investigations into serious member services issues<\/b>, including incorrect insurance premium refunds for dead members”.<\/p>\n The alleged failures occurred between October 2021 and September 2024, ASIC says, claiming Mercer’s systems were inadequate to comply with its requirements to “promptly report ongoing investigations into significant breaches of their core obligations”.<\/p>\n The proceedings have been lodged in the Federal Court.<\/p>\n 1h agoWed 13 Aug 2025 at 11:49pm<\/p>\n ICYMI: Finance with Daniel Ziffer<\/p>\n Just 10 minutes until the ASX opens for the Thursday session, so take a look back on how we got here with Daniel Ziffer<\/b>.<\/p>\n CBA shares entered correction territory yesterday, making a 10 per cent drop from its most recent peak.<\/p>\n Here’s why it had such a big impact on the broader market:<\/p>\n Loading…<\/p>\n 2h agoWed 13 Aug 2025 at 11:15pm<\/p>\n Fears for jobs as Star seeks approval for Brisbane casino deal<\/p>\n A deal between gambling giant Star Entertainment <\/b>and its partners in Brisbane’s Queen’s Wharf <\/b>casino still faces regulatory hurdles and has left employees with questions about their future at the embattled precinct<\/b>.<\/p>\n Star told investors on Tuesday morning it had finally\u00a0signed a deal with its Hong Kong partners<\/a>, which would see Star give up assets, including its 50 per cent stake in the $3.6 billion Queen’s Wharf casino complex, and the Treasury car park and hotel.<\/p>\n A Queensland government spokesperson said the deal between Star and its joint venture partners \u2014 Chow Tai Fook Enterprises <\/b>(CTFE) and Far East Consortium<\/b> \u2014 was not yet finalised.<\/p>\n The state government would not say whether it held concerns about Queen’s Wharf employees<\/b> working under owners with\u00a0chequered legal histories<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>but said jobs and staff welfare were top priorities.<\/p>\n Read more from Ned Hammond<\/b>\u00a0reporting in Brisbane:<\/p>\n 2h agoWed 13 Aug 2025 at 11:05pm<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfa5 The income gap between home owners and renters widens<\/p>\n Ahead of the federal government’s economic reform round table, two leading economists are calling for a tax on wealth, land or the family home to close the income gap between renters and home owners<\/b>.<\/p>\n New research <\/b>finds Australia’s extremely favourable tax treatment of owner-occupied housing<\/b> is fuelling the problem, encouraging Australians to plough money into housing at the expense of everything else \u2014 leaving those without housing even further behind.<\/p>\n It leaves two Australians, similar other than their home-ownership status, facing very different futures, as Rhiana Whitson <\/b>reports on The Business<\/b>:<\/p>\n 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ASX 200 sectors (LSEG Refinitiv)<\/p>\n\n
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