ASX closes lower as Macquarie shares tumble, Tesla shareholders approve Elon Musk’s trillion-dollar pay deal — as it happened

2h agoFri 7 Nov 2025 at 5:36amMarket snapshotASX 200: -0.7% at 8769.7 points (live values below)Australian dollar: +0.1% to 65 US cents S&P 500: -1.1% to 6,720 pointsNasdaq: -1.9% to 23,053 pointsFTSE: -0.4% to 9,735 points EuroStoxx: -0.7% to 567 points Spot gold: +0.5% at $US3,995.9/ounce Brent crude: +0.4% at $US63.66/barrel Iron ore: -1.6% to $US103.10/tonne Bitcoin: +1% $US102,296.2

Prices current around 4.35pm AEDT.

Live updates on the major ASX indices:

2h agoFri 7 Nov 2025 at 5:45am

That’s all for today, Happy Friday

That’s all for today, Happy Friday.

Until next time…

Loading2h agoFri 7 Nov 2025 at 5:32amASX records second weekly drop in a row

The Australian sharemarket finished lower on Friday — its second consecutive weekly drop.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.7 per cent to 8,769.7 points.

Macquarie fell 5.7 per cent to $204.77 as its half-year net profit of $1.7 billion for the six months ending September 30 missed analyst forecasts by 10.4 per cent, according to UBS.

News Corp lifted 3 per cent to $46.35 as the media empire reported a 2 per cent lift in its first-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue at $US2.14 billion, beating analysts’ average estimate of $US2.10 billion. The results were driven by growth in its Dow Jones and digital real estate arms.

REA Group fell 1 per cent to $209.20 after reporting revenue of $429 million in the September quarter, up 4 per cent year on year.

Qantas-backed aviation group Alliance Aviation fell 42.7 per cent to $1.45, as the company warned its FY26 results would fall well short of analyst expectations.

3h agoFri 7 Nov 2025 at 4:48amAs debt owed to the ATO climbs, agency ‘turns up the heat’

According to the ATO, the total tax debt book has jumped from $86.1 billion to $101.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 17.77 per cent.

This figure includes all collectable debt, debt subject to objection or appeal, insolvency debt and non-pursued economic debt.

National insolvency and restructuring firm Worrells says it is the biggest rise since 2003 and the sharpest escalation in 22 years.

The ATO has also introduced a new classification, “non-pursued uneconomical”, into which $6.2 billion of debt has been moved.

Paul Nogueria, principal of the Worrells Sunshine Coast office, noted the tax debt total has increased by 126 per cent since the pre-COVID baseline of $44.7 billion.

“The proportion of debt currently subject to some form of insolvency stands at 18.15 per cent, the highest figure since 2017 when it was around 20 per cent,” he said.

To recover the money owed, the ATO has ramped up its debt recovery action.

The ATO’s own data shows it is hitting people more often with a Director Penalty Notice that makes them personally liable for tax debts.

The number of Director Penalty Notices (DPNs) issued to individual directors surged by 136 per cent from 35,774 in FY2024 to 84,529 in FY25.

“There has been a 28 per cent increase in the amount of tax debt transferred into the insolvency category, from $14.3 billion to $18.4 billion,” Mr Nogueria said.

“This is the largest increase since the financial year ending 2011, when the Australian economy was still working through the aftershocks of the global financial crisis.

“The growth of debt subject to insolvency is a clear indicator that the ATO has turned up the heat when it comes to debt collection and enforcement.”

As I have reported for the ABC, the ATO’s ramp-up in debt recovery action is seeing more vulnerable people hit, and calls to financial helplines are reaching unprecedented levels. Read more on that here:

3h agoFri 7 Nov 2025 at 4:34am

Elon Musk the new trillionaire

At Tesla’s Texas factory, shareholders chanted “Elon, Elon” as they overwhelmingly approved the largest-ever CEO compensation package for the company’s controversial boss.

If Musk delivers on the full terms of the deal, he will take control of about a quarter of the company and increase Tesla’s market value by trillions of dollars.

Read more about the event in this explainer by my colleague, Stephanie Chalmers.

3h agoFri 7 Nov 2025 at 4:22amWhere is Australia’s unemployment rate headed and will there be rate cuts in 2026?

Australia’s latest figures on the October unemployment rate will be released on Thursday, which will be crucial to whether there will be more rate cuts next year.

AMP economist My Bui says it is likely to show a small pullback to 4.4 per cent (from 4.5 per cent last month), given its volatile nature.

“However, employment gains will likely remain weak at just 18,000 with a participation rate still around a historical high of 66.9 per cent,” she forecasted.

She noted that the Reserve Bank, in leaving rates on hold on Melbourne Cup Day, also mentioned the word “uncertain” 45 times in its statement and acknowledged that there were risks on both sides.

“At AMP, we continue to see more risks on the downside — especially for the labour market,” she said.

“As a result, we see an unemployment rate rising to 4.6 per cent next year.”

Ms Bui said market services inflation, the more concerning category according to RBA Governor Michele Bullock, was also likely to temper as market wage growth decelerated.

“The bottom line is that we see household and business demand still sluggish and not feeding into an inflationary spiral, and the economy still requires one or two more rate cuts next year,” she said.

4h agoFri 7 Nov 2025 at 3:47am

S&P says Macquarie Group’s recent compliance breaches won’t impact its credit strength

Macquarie Group Limited’s (MGL) diversification across business lines remains a key factor supporting the financial services group’s credit strength, according to ratings agency S&P, which issued a statement after the banking giant announced a half-year net profit of $1.7 billion for the six months ending September 30.

S&P said that while “Macquarie’s corporate governance remains strong, supported by a well-established framework and board oversight”, there had been recent compliance breaches, including failures in monitoring and short-selling misreporting, “that slightly temper our view”.

“We note that MGL continues to work with regulators, and various remediation efforts are underway,” it said.

S&P said Macquarie’s global footprint and diverse businesses meant that a drop in earnings from some businesses or geographies was typically offset by growth in others.

About two-thirds of the group’s income continued to come from outside Australia, it noted.

“We forecast that Macquarie Bank (A+/Stable/A-1) will remain strongly capitalised and will maintain our risk-adjusted capital ratio soundly above 10 per cent,” S&P said.

“As of September 30, 2025, its common equity Tier 1 regulatory ratio was 12.4 per cent.

“We believe the bank will easily meet the upcoming 25 basis point increase in its minimum CET1 ratio requirement to 10.5 per cent from January 1, 2027, when the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority removes additional Tier 1 capital from its prudential framework for banks.”

As well as the earlier reported compliance breaches, Macquarie has come under fire from Australia’s corporate watchdog for not acting efficiently, honestly and fairly by failing to place Shield on a watchlist for heightened monitoring. Read more on that here:

4h agoFri 7 Nov 2025 at 3:22amASIC vows to better educate consumers about financial matters

Over the past 12 months, consumer watchdog ASIC has commissioned research on how Australians feel about their current level of financial knowledge and their experiences and perceptions of ASIC’s website Moneysmart.

Only 26 per cent of Australians over the age of 18 consider themselves to be “very knowledgeable” on money and financial matters, and almost 75 per cent would like to be more knowledgeable.

Just 4 per cent of people in Australia can spontaneously recall Moneysmart when searching for organisations with financial information or advice.

On Thursday, ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland warned that consumers were often vulnerable to exploitation in the financial system because, for many of the decisions they made, they were equipped with less knowledge than the person or firm on the other side of the transaction.

“We see this in our work every day,” he had told the Ecstra Financial Wellbeing Summit in Sydney.

He said this included people who were caught up in the First Guardian and Shield collapses and those who were “advised to set up a self-managed super fund when it is clearly not in their best interests”.

“These situations have real economic consequences for the people involved — whether that’s not having enough money to pay essential bills or losing their entire retirement savings,” he said.

“Through our Moneysmart work, we hope to ensure that fewer people find themselves caught in these traps by bridging at least part of the knowledge gap between consumers and the people who stand to gain from their misfortune.”

I recently wrote on how compulsory super has led to higher levels of national savings, but, as the pool of savings grows, many argue that stricter supervision is needed to protect Australians’ retirement savings. Read more on that here:

4h agoFri 7 Nov 2025 at 3:09amElon Musk’s xAI push to preoccupy the board

While Tesla shareholders have approved chief executive Elon Musk’s big pay package, investors were less certain about a proposal for Tesla to invest in Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI.

Mr Musk has said publicly he believes Tesla should back the company.

Now it is up to Tesla’s board to decide.

The Wall Street Journal reports that more shares were voted in support of the xAI proposal than against.

But Tesla general counsel Brandon Ehrhart said at the meeting that there were many ballots not cast on the measure.

“Since this is an advisory vote, the board will examine the next steps in light of this level of shareholder support,” he said.

5h agoFri 7 Nov 2025 at 2:56am

Gold stocks under pressure but is the dip a good time to buy?

Gold stocks have come under pressure since market close on October 17, when many of them were trading at, or near, their all-time highs.

But investors are still looking for safe assets amid growing uncertainty out of the US.

The ongoing government shutdown and looming question marks around American tariffs have seen the precious metal soar to record highs, and then retreat.

The price of spot gold is currently trading just under US$4,000.

While it’s down almost 10 per cent from the mid-October record highs, it’s still up more than 50 per cent over the year.

Some commodity analysts believe the recent dip in the gold price may be temporary, and while the future is uncertain, it could still be a good time to buy gold stocks.

UBS had forecast it would reach $US4,200 by the end of the year and stay there for most of 2026.

Read more here:

6h agoFri 7 Nov 2025 at 1:37am

Microsoft to refund customers after ACCC alleges it misled on subscription prices

Microsoft has offered an apology and a refund to millions of its Australian customers who were allegedly misled into choosing AI-based software and paying higher subscription fees.

I spoke to Alicia Barry on The Business about the issue. You can catch up here:

6h agoFri 7 Nov 2025 at 1:26amNews Corp ‘overall a good set of results’: UBS

UBS says News Corp’s September quarter results delivered a slight top-line and EBITDA beat.

Shares in News Corp were up 4. 3 per cent around midday on Friday to $46.90.

Analyst Lucy Huang says News Media and property listings group Move outperformed expectations, driven by pricing increases, continued cost efficiencies, and premium offerings.

Dow Jones continued to deliver earnings growth in line with forecasts.

Book Publishing was the main drag, with EBITDA down 28 per cent due to a $US13 million receivables write-off. But revenues were marginally above expectations.

Digital Real Estate Services continued to perform strongly, with REA seeing a “slight miss on yields”, but with higher October listing volumes in Melbourne and Sydney, this “could see potential benefits” going forward.

Ms Huang said the company has accelerated its share buyback.

“Overall a good set of results with all revenue drivers contributing,” she said.

UBS has given News Corp a 12-month “buy” rating and price target of $67.50.

It has given REA a buy rating and 12-month price target of $285.

Shares in REA were up 1.2 per cent to $208.62 around midday on Friday. 

6h agoFri 7 Nov 2025 at 1:14amMacquarie shares fall 7% after missing forecasts: UBS

Shares in Macquarie were down 6.75 per cent to $202.58 before midday, after Macquarie Group’s profit results.

The investment banking giant saw a rise in first-half profit on Friday of almost $1.7 billion, helped by performance fees in its asset management unit, but analysts were expecting a first-half profit of $1.86 billion and an interim dividend of $3.09.

UBS analyst John Storey says the result was 10.4 per cent below consensus, while earnings per share of $4.37 were 10.9 per cent off expectations.

“Again, the market will need to trust in management to deliver a much stronger second half in order to meet consensus forecasts,” he said.

“Green investments moving into corporate is possibly signalling Macquarie throwing in the towel on these assets, or Macquarie Asset Management getting primed for something bigger.”

UBS has given Macquarie a ‘neutral’ rating and 12-month price target of $225.

7h agoFri 7 Nov 2025 at 12:54amAlliance Aviation downgrades earnings outlook

Qantas-backed Alliance Aviation Services has downgraded its earnings outlook for FY26, and announced the immediate resignation of founding managing director Scott McMillan.

Mr McMillan, who co-founded Alliance in 2002, has brought forward his previously announced resignation and stepped down from the board effective immediately.

Stewart Tully has assumed the role of managing director, while Mr McMillan will remain as a consultant for six months to support the transition.

The airline, in which Qantas has a 20 per cent stake, provides essential services to mining, energy and government sectors, as well as wet-lease services for other airlines.

The company now expects EBITDA of between $190 million and $210 million, down from consensus forecasts above $250 million.

It expects EBIT of $77 million and $85 million and pre-tax profit of $46 million to $50 million.

Alliance attributed the downgrade to higher aircraft purchase and maintenance costs, supply chain inflation, and an unresolved contract dispute, but said it remains profitable with strong cash flow.

The company is working with corporate advisor Barrenjoey to assess business unit performance, debt structure, and capital allocation as part of an ongoing review.

7h agoFri 7 Nov 2025 at 12:27amNews Corp beats revenue expectations

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp media empire has reported a 2 per cent lift in its first-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue at $US2.14 billion, beating analysts’ average estimate of $US2.10 billion.

Revenue from the Dow Jones unit — which includes The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, and has been a recent key growth driver for the company — rose 6 per cent to $US586 million. Total average subscriptions to the segment’s consumer products lifted 8 per cent to almost 6.4 million.

“We recently raised the full-price rate for The Wall Street Journal digital subscription for new customers and to a portion of our tenured customers,” News Corp finance chief Lavanya Chandrashekar said on a post-earnings call.

“Recognising the value of our best-in-class journalism, we are actively reviewing our go-forward pricing strategy.”

As detailed in our blog post below, News Corp’s digital real estate services unit, which includes REA Group, grew 5 per cent in the quarter to $US479 million, helped by higher revenues at both REA and Move, the parent of real estate listing company realtor.com.

The News Media segment — with mastheads such as The Sun and The Times in the UK, The Australian and the New York Post — grew 1 per cent to $US545 million.

Quarterly revenue from the HarperCollins book publishing unit was down 2 per cent, with orders slowing from both readers and retailers.

News Corp recently sold its 65 per cent interest in Foxtel to DAZN, a global sports streaming platform.

The Murdoch family in September reached a deal that saw Rupert Murdoch’s politically conservative eldest son, Lachlan Murdoch, cement control of the family media empire, which includes Fox News and The Wall Street Journal.

Under the deal, Rupert’s children, James Murdoch, Elisabeth Murdoch and Prudence MacLeod, are each expected to receive about $US1.1 billion in proceeds.

-With Reuters

7h agoFri 7 Nov 2025 at 12:20am

ICYMI: NAB boss says housing is Australia’s biggest challenge

The boss of National Australia Bank, Andrew Irvine, says housing is Australia’s biggest societal and economic challenge.

Speaking with The Business, he says the country needs to urgently boost housing supply.

You can watch his interview with Alica Barry for more of the NAB boss’s views on the economic outlook and how the banking sector is faring in the current environment:

Loading…7h agoFri 7 Nov 2025 at 12:04amREA quarterly revenue up 4pc

REA Group has reported its quarterly revenue of $429 million ended September 30, up 4% year-on-year, thanks to the strong yield growth in Australia.

Its Australian revenue of $405 million was up 6% YoY, according to the company.

“Buy revenue growth was driven by a 13% increase in yield,
partially offset by an 8% decline in national listings,” REA told its shareholders.

“Commercial revenue growth was driven by an average 7% price rise, increased depth
penetration and slightly lower listings.

“New Homes revenues growth outpaced Commercial,
driven by a 7% increase in Project Profile volumes, higher yield and growth in display revenues.”

REA’s share price went up 1.3% to $213.74 per share, giving it a market cap of $27.9 billion, as of 10:56am AEDT.

Read more on the consumer watchdog’s investigation into the way the company charges for online advertising here:

8h agoThu 6 Nov 2025 at 11:51pm

AI investors warned of pullback

The AI trade is crowded, raising the risk of a technical pullback, according to IG market analyst Tony Sycamore. 

“If you are a long-term believer in AI’s benefits, a possible 10–20% pullback is likely manageable.

“However, if you’re trading short term or riding the wave of AI FOMO, then risk-management strategies — as always — should be part of the trading plan.”

8h agoThu 6 Nov 2025 at 11:42pm

Market snapshotASX 200: +0.1% at 8,832 points (live values below)Australian dollar: +0.1% to 64.85 US cents S&P 500: -1.1% to 6,720 pointsNasdaq: -1.9% to 23,053 pointsFTSE: -0.4% to 9,735 points EuroStoxx: -0.7% to 567 points Spot gold: +0.2 at $US3,985/ounce Brent crude: +0.1% at $US63.57/barrel Iron ore: -1.2% to $US103.55/tonne Bitcoin: flat to $US101,182

Prices current around 10:41am AEDT.

Live updates on the major ASX indices:

8h agoThu 6 Nov 2025 at 11:38pm

Qantas gives update on delayed ultra-long-haul Airbus planes

Qantas and Airbus have released production photos of the first A350-1000ULR plane, currently being assembled in Toulouse, France.

Qantas’s first A350-1000ULR is in production at Airbus’s factory in Toulouse, France. (Airbus)

The plane is one of 12 that Qantas aims to operate on ultra-long-haul non-stop routes from Australia’s east coast to London and New York in 20+-hour flights.

The Australian carrier commissioned Airbus to build a specially modified version of its A350 aircraft with an additional 20,000-litre centre rear fuel tank to provide the extra range needed.

The airline has dubbed its ultra-long-haul routes “Project Sunrise”.

Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson said the airline has a long history of breaking aviation barriers.

“Project Sunrise will not only overcome the tyranny of distance, it will fundamentally change the way our customers travel the world,” said Ms Hudson.

“These flights will cut up to four hours off the journey and transform how people experience ultra-long-haul travel, through science-backed design to minimise jetlag and maximise wellbeing.”

Qantas is hoping customers will be willing to pay a premium for the time savings, with capacity on the A350-1000ULR reduced from the A350’s more typical 300+ passengers to 238, to allow extra leg room and space to move around the cabin.

The project has encountered delays: it was hoped that flights would begin next year, but flight testing will only start in 2026.

Qantas says Airbus is moving its first A350-1000ULR into a production line to fit avionics and engines. (Airbus)

Qantas said the first of 12 new aircraft was scheduled for delivery in late 2026, with the first commercial Project Sunrise services commencing in the first half of 2027.