2h agoWed 4 Feb 2026 at 8:39pmMarket snapshotASX 200 futures: +0.2%Australian dollar: -0.4% at 69.95 US centsWall Street: Dow Jones (+0.7%), S&P 500 (-0.2%) Nasdaq (-1.2%)Europe: FTSE (+0.8%)Spot gold: +0.3% to $US4,949/ounceSpot silver: +3.1% to $US85.84/ounceOil (Brent crude): +1.8% to $US64.36/barrelBitcoin: -3.3% to $US73,499

Prices current around 7:30am AEDT 

Live updates on the major ASX indices:

2m agoWed 4 Feb 2026 at 11:30pm

ASX opens marginally down on Thursday

The Australian share market has bucked futures predictions, trading down so far this mornng with the ASX 200 off about 0.2%. That’s following mixed results on Wall Street, with the tech heavy Nasdaq dropping on AI stocks, while the Dow actually rose overall.

7m agoWed 4 Feb 2026 at 11:25pm

NAB pledges “updates” to savings rates by February 13

All of the Big Four banks took less than 12 hours after the RBA’s rate hike call, to announce that they’ll pass this 0.25% cash rate increase onto their variable home loan customers by February 13. (Except for Westpac, which is giving its customers four extra days.)

We’ve just contacted all of those banks this morning to ask if they’ll be doing the same for variable deposit rates on savings accounts, which would give savers back more cash in interest.

We’ve just got this statement back from NAB, on behalf of Sweta Mehra, who heads up Personal Everyday Banking.

“We’re working through updates to our savings and deposit products following the RBA’s decision, and these are expected to come into effect from 13 February. We’ll share more details as soon as everything is finalised. Changes may roll out at different times across savings products, reflecting differences in funding costs, market conditions, and product features.”

Have you got a savings deposit rate increase note from your bank? We’d love to see it! Or let us know if you’re still waiting. Email our journalist on terzon.emilia@abc.net.au or comment here.

30m agoWed 4 Feb 2026 at 11:02pm

‘There will be strike action’: ACTU pushes more than 4% pay increase

The peak union body’s secretary, Sally McManus, spoke to the ABC’s national breakfast TV program this morning, where she noted the ACTU’s push for above-inflation wage increases.

As well as collective bargaining to get the outcome from employers, the ACTU is saying it’ll push for real wage increases during this year’s minimum wage and AWARD agreement negotiations with the FWU.

“Landlords keep putting up rents,” McMcManus said.

“Your average worker is either a renter or they’re a first home buyer and they’re the ones under the most amount of cost-of-living pressure for many reasons. Rents are part of it.

“In order to just keep up, you need a 4% pay increase. People are going to want to get ahead, and that means more than 4%.”

“Lots of employers are reasonable, but some aren’t,” she added, noting “there will be strike action if we can’t get wages that will keep us ahead.”

CPI (inflation) actually came in at 3.8% for the 12 months ending in December 2025. The next round of inflation data is due out on February 25.

We’ll bring you more on this developing story today. For now, here’s more on the breakdown of what inflation is doing.

42m agoWed 4 Feb 2026 at 10:50pm

Thanks for your comments on Capital Gains

Changes to the housing tax policy seems like a no-brainer. Victoria has a reasonably restrictive land tax for non-primary place of residence and has seen significantly slower growth in housing prices compared to the national average as a result. If the goal is to improve affordability, isn’t that considered a resounding success? Most of the reporting of housing prices bemoans the slow growth of Melbourne’s property prices, but isn’t that the point?

– Stuart

I think any taxation changes should focus on the policy objective…incentivizing overall supply & providing subsidized rentals (In the absence of social housing – although how Defense Housing could be a good model for social housing). Capital gains tax discounts should be limited to new builds only (So not applicable to established homes) with a minimum holding period. Negative gearing should be limited to people who are providing long term rentals, explicitly excluding any short term rental. Finally, there should be a vacancy tax. Simply put…the objective should be tilted heavily towards supply & “cheaper” rentals. Most of all, it should penalize speculation.

– Allan

I find it wild that negative gearing can be across different assets. One solution would be to limit the losses to only the asset that incurs the loss, rather than setting against the income of the owner. Similar to how a family trust can’t distribute losses for tax purposes but has to hold them itself.

– Commenter

A government source told the ABC that, while a final decision had not been made, there was an appetite to pursue housing-related reform, that discussions were ongoing, and that changes to the capital gains tax had not been ruled out.

You can read more here.

1h agoWed 4 Feb 2026 at 10:11pm

Google’s AI platform reaches 750 million users

One of the world’s biggest tech companies, Alphabet, has just put out its results, where it has noted growing spending to push further into AI.

Google’s owner is planning a $US175 to $US185 billion dollar spend in 2026, which is far above expectations. Its share price has initially dropped 6% in after-hours trade on Wall Street on that news, but is now starting to come back.

CEO Sundar Pichai said in a release that Alphabet hiked its forecast spending to meet customer demand and capitalise on  growing opportunities.

“We’re seeing our AI investments and infrastructure drive revenue and growth across the board,” he said.

The company spent $US91.45 billion in 2025, primarily on AI infrastructure, including servers, data centres and networking equipment. That’s pretty bang on its projections.

Growth in Google’s cloud division, where the company is enjoying early returns on AI investment, helped the stock pare losses.  Overall, the company reported total revenue of $US113.83 billion for the quarter, very slightly higher than projections.

The aggressive expansion in outlay for AI comes at a time when investors have increasingly grown concerned about payoffs from the investments.

The launch of its latest Gemini 3 model, which is linked to its search engine Google, in November saw strong reception and propelled the company forward in the AI arms race. It now has 750 million users monthly, the company says.

Following the launch of Gemini 3, Sam Altman, CEO of AI frontrunner and ChatGPT creator OpenAI, reportedly issued an internal “code red” to push his teams to accelerate development.

Google has also struck a deal with Apple to power its revamped Siri voice assistant with Gemini, which is unlocking a huge market for the company due to the tech partnership.

1h agoWed 4 Feb 2026 at 10:01pm

Thanks for your comments so far today!

Limiting negative gearing to one property seems to be the way to go to me. It would still allow for individual investors who use an investment property for long term financial planning to continue whilst making investors who are in the market for purely speculative purposes re-appraise their approach.

– Phillip

1h agoWed 4 Feb 2026 at 9:57pm

Smaller banks start to announce savings rate increases

Well all of the Big Four banks have announced they’ll pass on the RBA’s 0.25% cash rate increase to their variable home loan customers by February 13, except for Westpac, which is giving its customers four extra days.

We’ve just contacted all of those banks to ask if they’ll be doing the same for variable deposit rates on savings accounts, which would give savers back more cash in interest.

So far, comparison website Canstar says it has noted savings rate increase announcements from smaller banks ING, Macquarie, and Ubank.

The Bank of Sydney has also just announced it’ll lift variable savings rates by 0.25% on February 10, followed by the same bump to its variable home loan rates by February 17.

Have you got a savings deposit rate increase note from your bank? We’d love to see it! Or let us know if you’re still waiting. Email our journalist on terzon.emilia@abc.net.au or comment here.

1h agoWed 4 Feb 2026 at 9:41pm

Obesity drug manufacturer forecasts 25% sales rise

Well it’s the growing business that’s helping people shrink. Now, major weight loss drug manufacturer, Eli Lilly, is forecasting a 25% revenue rise in 2026.

That is as its rival Novo, which makes Wegovy, says its sales are expected to fall between 5% and 13% in 2026.

Lilly’s successes have boosted its market value to more than $US1 trillion, the first pharmaceutical company to reach that milestone, while Novo shares have sunk 40% over the past year. On Tuesday, the Danish drugmaker warned investors of “unprecedented” pricing pressure in 2026.

Novo last month rolled out an oral version of Wegovy at an initial price of $US149, ahead of an expected April regulatory decision for Lilly’s rival weight-loss pill.

Lilly expects to launch its orforglipron pill in the US in the second quarter, and in most international markets in 2027, Ken Custer, the company’s head of cardiometabolic health, said on a call to discuss its results and outlook.

You can read more about the weight loss industry in this feature by our colleague Rachel Clayton from a while ago.

2h agoWed 4 Feb 2026 at 9:24pm

Australian steel businesses battling cheap imports

An interesting read from our colleagues this morning, about how Australian steel companies are battling to survive as cheap imports increase competition.

“We’re running almost unprofitably at the moment and hanging in there hoping things might get better,” one company’s boss tells ABC News.

“But if it doesn’t, we’ll have to make some drastic decisions.”

More here:

2h agoWed 4 Feb 2026 at 8:51pm

Labor considering changes to capital gains tax

Australia’s peak body for the union movement has put out a statement this morning, following reports overnight that Labor is considering changes to key housing tax policy.

A government source told the ABC that, while a final decision had not been made, there was an appetite to pursue housing-related reform, that discussions were ongoing, and that changes to the capital gains tax had not been ruled out.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have both ruled out changes to negative gearing, which was one component of the controversial housing tax agenda Labor took to the 2019 federal election under Bill Shorten.

The ACTU says it wants capital gains tax discounts reduced from 50% to 25% and negative gearing concessions limited to one investment property with a phase-in period.

“When tax concessions push investment into property speculation instead of new housing and productive businesses, working people lose twice – through higher house prices and weaker wage growth,” secretary Sally McManus said in a statement this morning.

The ACTU says it’ll also push for above-inflation wage increases this financial year, in part due to higher housing costs.

3h agoWed 4 Feb 2026 at 8:32pm

AUD below 70 US cents again

The Aussie dollar is currently trading at 69.95 US cents after losing around 0.4% overnight. However, CBA’s currency analysts note it is getting support from forecasts that the RBA will continue lifting interest rates this year.

“The Australian cash rate futures market continues to price about another 1½ 25bp rate hikes from the RBA by year‑end.  Pricing for a May hike (our new view) has now risen to 86%,” they write this morning.

3h agoWed 4 Feb 2026 at 8:30pm

Chance of a rate hike in March: NAB

NAB’s chief economist Sally Auld spoke to the ABC yesterday, to discuss the fall-out from the RBA’s rate hike on Tuesday and whether the board’s language is looking more hawkish.

“The statement on monetary policy definitely had a hawkish tone. They really emphasised they’d been surprised by inflation,” she said about this week’s public commentary from the RBA.

NAB was one of the bigger banks that called the February rate hike earlier, and it is currently joined by CBA in also predicting a May rate hike too.

“This is not a situation that will be resolved by just one and done. As in, one rate hike and move on,” Dr Auld told ABC News.

“There is always a small chance they might be forced to follow up with another rate hike in March. The story could play out a little more quickly than our central case expectation.”

But she says, there’s need to be “surprises” in upcoming data for a March hike, including GDP data and upcoming monthly inflation figures.

You can watch more in this TV story that aired on ABC’s The Business last night.

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3h agoWed 4 Feb 2026 at 8:13pm

Wall Street drops on AI bubble fears

Good morning!

Wall Street’s tech index has dropped 1.2% overnight, as investors mull whether investment in AI has finally grown too big. The Dow, however, overall ended up.

There were losses in Advanced Micro Devices, Palantir and other technology companies.

Google’s owner Alphabet fell 2.3% ahead of its quarterly results after the bell, which will give investors a fresh glimpse of how much of its massive investments in AI are contributing to its top-line sales growth.

AMD tumbled 16% after the chipmaker forecast quarterly revenue that disappointed investors, and suggested it is having a tough time competing against AI heavyweight Nvidia. Nvidia also dropped 3.7%, and the PHLX semiconductor overall index lost 5.4%. 

Want to know more about the background of these companies and concerns about a bubble? Read on.