3h agoThu 19 Feb 2026 at 8:41pmMarket snapshotASX 200: -0.2% to 9,070 points Australian dollar: Flat at 70.57 US centsWall Street: Dow Jones -0.5%, S&P 500 -0.3%, Nasdaq -0.4%Europe: DAX -0.9%, FTSE -0.6%, Stoxx 50 -0.5%Gold: Flat at $US4,999/ounceOil (Brent crude): +2.3% to $US71.94/barrelIron ore: -0.4% to $US95.35/tonneBitcoin: Flat at $US66,960

 Prices current at around 10.40am AEDT

Live prices on the major ASX indices:

10m agoThu 19 Feb 2026 at 11:42pmJapan Jan core CPI rises 2.0% yr/yr

Japan’s core consumer prices rose 2% in January from a year earlier, government data showed on Friday.

The core consumer price index, which includes oil products but excludes fresh food prices, compared with economists’ median estimate for a 2% annual gain.

Stripping away the effect of fresh food and energy, consumer prices rose 2.6% in January from a year ago.

– Reuters

22m agoThu 19 Feb 2026 at 11:30pmDay 5 of Coles v ACCC underway

We’re about to head into day five of the ACCC v Coles case in the Federal Court.

We’re expecting one witness from Coles today.

Yesterday we heard from former manager Paul Carroll who was questioned over the pricing of wet dog food.

Mr Carroll was grilled on the stand about whether the pricing was outside the supermarket giant’s guidelines.

So far, the case has focused on the “Down Down” promotion and whether or not there was a planned campaign to mislead customers.

The case might wrap up sooner than expected with closing arguments possible early next week.

35m agoThu 19 Feb 2026 at 11:17pmASX breakdown

The Australian share market has opened down -0.3% to 9,057 points.

All of the sectors are down except for energy and financials.

Here is a look:

Sector summary (Refinitiv )

Looking at stocks, 136 are in the red, 14 are unchanged, and 50 are gaining.

Here is a look at the top movers:

Top movers (Refinitiv)

And here is a look at the bottom movers:

Bottom movers (Refinitiv)

The Aussie dollar is trading at 70 US cents.

50m agoThu 19 Feb 2026 at 11:02pmThe ASX opens down

The Australian share market has opened down -0.3% to 9,057 points.

More to come.

1h agoThu 19 Feb 2026 at 10:52pmAnnual productivity bulletin 2026

This year’s productivity bulletin has been released, and shows that Australia’s multifactor productivity, which measures how well labour and capital combine to produce outputs, declined by 0.5% in 2024-25, falling below the 20-year average.

Here are some visual breakdowns.

Market sector productivity (PC estimates based on ABS (2026).)Productivity growth by industry (PC estimates based on ABS (2026).)

Alex Robson, deputy chair of the Productivity Commission, says “unfortunately, the most recent ABS data shows that Australia’s MFP has declined over the 12 months to June 2025”.

“At an industry level, agriculture, forestry and fishing led MFP growth at 10.4% over the last year. Mining saw its fifth consecutive year of declining MFP and had the largest fall of any industry in 2024-25 at 3.2%,” he says.

“There are many possible reasons for Australia’s recent poor track record of MFP growth.

“One possible reason is slowing accumulation of human capital — while our labour force continues to grow, we also need a skilled workforce that can adapt to changes and meet employer demands.”

1h agoThu 19 Feb 2026 at 10:45pm

ICYMI: Lithium demand ‘deepening’ despite US renewables backstep, says PLS

 PLS chief executive Dale Henderson says the decision to restart the Ngungaju lithium plant in WA was influenced by its recent offtake deal with China’s Canmax that included a minimum price floor of $US1,000 per tonne.

With business presenter Alicia Barry:

Loading…1h agoThu 19 Feb 2026 at 10:32pmFintech Clear Street withdraws US IPO filing amid market volatility

Wall Street broker Clear Street has withdrawn its registration statement for a US listing as heightened bearish sentiments on financial and software stocks now extend to the new listings market.

Last week, Clear Street delayed its IPO plans citing “market conditions”. This had followed a massive slashing of its targeted raise.

Disruption fears from AI-first offerings have been fuelling broad market selloffs, with shares of Wall Street brokerages hit last week after a selloff in software and IT stocks earlier this month.

Several companies have downsized or postponed their US initial public offerings in 2026 as market volatility, valuation scrutiny and weak peer performance weighed on the new listings pipeline.

Last week, Brazilian fintech Agibank downsized its issue size by more than 50% and currently trades below its IPO price.

Blackstone-backed Liftoff Mobile, which also postponed its IPO plans earlier this month, refiled for a US listing on Tuesday just hours after withdrawing an earlier plan.

The whipsawing nature of listing manoeuvres underscores the anxiety gripping capital markets.

While the year started with fears that AI exuberance was fuelling an equities bubble, the nascent technology has since evolved into a disruptive force with entire sectors seeing selloffs sparked by product launches from AI-first startups.

Founded in 2018, Clear Street started as a prime brokerage platform and has since expanded into other businesses, including investment banking.

According to its IPO prospectus, the company expected net revenue to have risen to between $US1.04 billion and $US1.06b in 2025, from $US463.6 million a year earlier.

The withdrawal of its listing plan reflects the renewed challenges faced by companies aiming to tap public markets after US trade policy and partisan gridlock caused hiccups last year in the long-awaited IPO comeback.

– Reuters

1h agoThu 19 Feb 2026 at 10:15pmAs electric car prices fall, will affordability win over drivers?

The affordability of electric cars has been one of the biggest sticking points holding back the energy transition.

But with the cheapest EV coming to Australia this year costing just $26,000 — about the same as its petrol equivalent — the landscape has shifted dramatically.

You can read the full report from climate reporter Jo Lauder below:

1h agoThu 19 Feb 2026 at 10:00pmQBE Insurance CEO comments

QBE CEO Andrew Horton says the results out today have exceeded the financial plan for the year.

“The group’s combined operating ratio of 91.9% tracked ahead of our plan, and improved notably from 93.1% in the prior year. The result was supported by catastrophic costs comfortably below allowance,” he said.

“Investment returns remained robust, with total investment income of $1.6 billion or a return of 4.9%.

“Collectively with our underwriting performance we generated significant value for shareholders in the year, with a Group adjusted return on equity of 19.8%, QBE’s highest in over a decade, and an improvement from 18.2% in the prior year.

“This supported a 22 Australian cents increase in the 2025 dividend per share to 109 Australian cents relative to the year prior.”

2h agoThu 19 Feb 2026 at 9:45pmStrong results for QBE Insurance

Global insurance company QBE has released its financial results to December 2025, coming in better than expected.

Here are the main takeaways:

The net profit after tax was $2.16 billion, compared to $1.8b the year prior. This is an increase of 21%The statutory insurance operating result was $2.2b, compared to $1.8b the year priorNet investment income was $1.7b, compared with $1.3b the year priorGross written premium increased by 7%2h agoThu 19 Feb 2026 at 9:30pmOn the agenda

More results are expected today.

Eyes will be on ANZ and QBE Insurance as they release their half yearly financial results to December 2025.

Other big names to look out for are

Guzman y GomezLatitude GroupMineral ResourcesTelix PharmaceuticalsDigiCo Infrastructure2h agoThu 19 Feb 2026 at 9:15pmSea of red on Wall St

It’s been a volatile day on Wall Street, as trading wraps up for Thursday afternoon US time.

The S&P 500 is down -0.5% to 6,847 points.

Here is a look at the movement across the day:

S&P 500 (Refinitiv)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down -0.6% to 49,388 points.

Here is a breakdown of the day:

Dow Jones (Refinitiv)

The Nasdaq is down -0.6% to 24,752 points.

Here is how the day looked:

Nasdaq (Refinitiv)

2h agoThu 19 Feb 2026 at 9:00pm

The finance report

Here is a quick recap on what happened on the markets yesterday, presented by my colleague Dan Ziffer.

3h agoThu 19 Feb 2026 at 8:30pmGood morning

Hello everyone and happy Friday!

Welcome to another day of news.

Adelaide Miller here bringing you the latest on markets, business and the economy.

The ASX is set to open lower in morning trade, with futures pointing down -0.6% to 8,992 points.

The Aussie dollar is trading at about 70 US cents.

Meanwhile, all of Wall Street is down. I’ll provide a breakdown on this soon.

But for now, grab yourself a coffee, juice, or tea and see you back here soon!

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