7h agoThu 26 Feb 2026 at 8:45pmMarket snapshotASX 200: FLAT at 9,174 pointsAustralian dollar: FLAT at 71.05 US centsS&P 500: -0.6% to 6,905 pointsNasdaq: -1.3% to 22,845 pointsFTSE: +0.4% to 10,846 pointsEuroStoxx: -0.1% to 633 pointsSpot gold: FLAT at $US5,187/ounceBrent crude: -0.3% to $US70.48/barrelIron ore: +0.1% to $US98.30/tonneBitcoin: -0.4% to $US67,222

Price current around 12:30pm AEDT

Live updates on the major ASX indices:

55m agoFri 27 Feb 2026 at 3:35am

Bapcor stock sinks

Bapcor’s stock price is down 48% to 90 cents at 2:30pm AEDT.

1h agoFri 27 Feb 2026 at 3:25am

Rio Tinto inks deal with world’s largest copper producer

British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto has signed a deal with Chile’s Codelco to explore development and investment opportunities.

The two companies agreed to join together to identify pilot projects. Rio Tinto currently partners with Chilean state-owned Nuevo Cobre, a copper and lithium project in Chile.

1h agoFri 27 Feb 2026 at 3:20am

AusPost parcel bonanza — 3,075 parcels every minute

Australians love their parcels it seems.

Australia Post has reported: “Parcel volumes increased by 5.1% [in the first half], driving revenue of $3.61 billion, up 4.1% on the same period last year.”

During the “peak”, Australia Post delivered 3,075 parcels every minute* — around one million additional parcels per week compared with last year, while achieving record service levels.

However, intensive competition in the eCommerce market has led to tighter pricing and compressed margins.

*Calculation based on Australia Post deliveries during the period  November 1 – December 31, 2025 over 12-hour days, excluding Sundays and public holidays.

1h agoFri 27 Feb 2026 at 3:08amFewer than 3% of letters sent by individuals: AusPost

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Australia Post’s letters service runs at a loss.

The letters service saw an interim loss of $2.1 million for the half driven by continued structural declines in letter volumes.

This is an improved outcome due in part to a $0.20 increase to the Basic Postage Rate (BPR), which came into effect in July 2025. 

Here’s what the postal group had to say about this service today:

As Australians continue to send fewer letters, the letters service is expected to record a large loss for FY26.

In December, Australia Post lodged a draft notification with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), proposing a $0.15 increase in the BPR from $1.70 to $1.85.

Further price increases will be required to help mitigate the impact of the continued structural decline in the letters service.

With fewer than 3% of letters sent by individuals, the average cost to Australian households would be less than $1 extra per year.

1h agoFri 27 Feb 2026 at 2:48am

Australia Post profit result: ‘surging eCommerce demand’

Following a record-breaking peak, Australia Post has reported an interim profit of $50.4 million, “while significantly accelerating investments to transform its network and meet surging eCommerce demand,” the government-owned corporation said.

This result is $198.7 million lower than the prior corresponding period.

The result, Australia Post said, “highlights increased costs for energy, enterprise agreement wage increases and property”.

“The letters service continues to run at a loss and volumes remain in decline.”

Increased demand for eCommerce during “peak” drove a 5.1% rise in parcel volumes for the half, compared with 1H25, with more than 283 million parcels delivered.

1h agoFri 27 Feb 2026 at 2:37am

Australia Post profit falls

Australia Post has published its earnings performance for the half year to 31 December 2025:

The key points are as follows:

Group revenue $5.06 billion, up 1.1% on same period last year (1H25)Group profit before tax $50.4 million, down $198.7 million from $249.1 million in 1H25Parcels and Services revenue $4.11 billion, up 1.1% on 1H25Letters revenue $952.2 million, up 0.9% and volumes down 11.5% compared to 1H25Investment of $219.9 million to transform the business, up 53.6% on 1H25

2h agoFri 27 Feb 2026 at 2:16am

Private debt growth stalling?

There’s evidence the enthusiasm for private credit may be cooling.

Here’s an excerpt from a JPMorgan note that just dropped in my inbox:

Private-sector credit rose 0.5%m/m in January, two-tenths below both J.P. Morgan and consensus expectations (+0.7%m/m).

The softer print hints at an emerging stabilisation in credit growth into 2026 and is consistent with the RBA’s shift to a hiking bias.

In annual terms, credit growth held at 7.7%oya — unchanged from December but still elevated by historical standards.

From here, we expect a moderation in rate‑sensitive segments, while tailwinds for first-home buyers should keep housing credit relatively firm.

That last line is not-such-great news for anyone hoping for a cooling in property price growth.

2h agoFri 27 Feb 2026 at 2:08am

Why are retail stocks getting slammed?

The economy’s trying to push ahead in top gear, right?

So why are retail stocks on the nose today?

Marcus Today market analyst Henry Jennings has shared some of his insights with the blog.

Bapcore’s results, he said, were “woeful”.

Coles’ earnings results were “not great, and clearly it’s Woolworths’ turn to be in the buyers’ sights”.

Harvey Norman “has been on the nose for a while”.

More broadly, he said, “higher interest rates [are] not helpful for retail.”

You can “never disappoint” in this earnings climate, he said.

“There’s plenty of results fatigue out there too.”

As always, this is not intended as financial advice.

2h agoFri 27 Feb 2026 at 2:02am

CBA suspects almost $1 billion in home loan fraud

Commonwealth Bank has referred itself to police and regulators after a spike in suspected home loan fraud.

Australia’s largest bank fears that almost $1 billion worth of loans were obtained through forged documents, created with AI.

The bank became aware of the potential fraud last year and is working with authorities to determine which loans may have been impacted.

Reporting with Bloomberg.

2h agoFri 27 Feb 2026 at 1:41am

Market snapshotASX 200: FLAT at 9,174 pointsAustralian dollar: FLAT at 71.05 US centsS&P 500: -0.6% to 6,905 pointsNasdaq: -1.3% to 22,845 pointsFTSE: +0.4% to 10,846 pointsEuroStoxx: -0.1% to 633 pointsSpot gold: FLAT at $US5,187/ounceBrent crude: -0.3% to $US70.48/barrelIron ore: +0.1% to $US98.30/tonneBitcoin: -0.4% to $US67,222

Price current around 12:30pm AEDT

Live updates on the major ASX indices:

2h agoFri 27 Feb 2026 at 1:37am

Netflix drops out of Discovery bid

Netflix has backed away from its proposal to buy Warner Bros Discovery, clearing the way for Paramount Skydance to win a months-long takeover battle for one of Hollywood’s most storied studios.

2h agoFri 27 Feb 2026 at 1:30am

Harvey Norman shares sink despite profit growth

It seems investors weren’t happy with Harvey Norman’s half-year pre-tax profit of $466.31 million.

Despite being up 16.5% on the same time last year, the share price sank 6.5% on the news.

The growth was mainly bolstered by strong overseas figures; increasing profit by 35.6% in offshore markets which include New Zealand, Ireland, Slovenia and Croatia.

Its property arm delivered $178.81 million in earnings over the previous half year.

3h agoFri 27 Feb 2026 at 1:12am

‘Customers fully compensated’: Auto and General

By By the Specialist Reporting Team’s Lucy Kent

Auto and General says it has paid more than $3.8 million in remediation to affected customers after ASIC launched legal action today claiming customers had been overcharged.

A spokesperson for Auto and General, the underwriter for Budget Direct, said the company had self-reported the incident to ASIC and apologised to customers.

In a statement the company said affected customers had now been fully compensated.

“In the past two years, Auto and General has invested more than $70 million in improvements to its systems and processes for managing its risk and compliance obligations and to prevent such an issue recurring,” it said.

“In addition, since this issue commenced, there has been a significant program of transformation to improve our culture of accountability and compliance.”

ASIC alleges more than 39,000 Budget Direct customers were misled, amounting to about $3 million in lost discounts.

The regulator will seek further civil penalties from the court.

Budget Direct insures around 3 million Australians across the country and is overseas-owned.

3h agoFri 27 Feb 2026 at 12:53am

Coles outdoes Woolworths on margin: analyst

Here’s an excerpt from a note from eToro market analyst Josh Gilbert:

“Like Woolworths, the headline profit number is dragged down by a significant items charge related to the wage remediation ruling, so investors should look past that to the underlying performance, where Coles delivered underlying profit of AU$676 million, up 12.5%, and a supermarket EBIT margin of 5.8%, comfortably ahead of Woolworths’ 5.5%.

“That margin advantage has been a consistent theme over the past 18 months and keeps Coles ahead in the supermarket wars.

“A dividend of 41 cents per share, up nearly 11% on last year, gives income-focused investors something to smile about.”

3h agoFri 27 Feb 2026 at 12:43am

eCommerce ‘accelerating’

It’s worth noting that Coles reported eCommerce sales growth of 27.0%, noting “digital engagement accelerating”.

Could it be that online grocery shopping will dominate purchasing trends in the years to come?

3h agoFri 27 Feb 2026 at 12:39amTop and bottom movers in early trade

Block surged 27.9% after announcing a workforce overhaul which would see the company to cut nearly half of the employees.

PEXA jumped 7.5% as the digital property exchange firm posted swing to half-year group NPAT of $15.4 million, compared with $29.5 million loss from a year ago.

On the way down…

Coles was the worst performer in early trade, down 8.1%, after posting a 11% fall in half-year profit.

Harvey Norman fell 6.5% after reporting a pre-pax profit of $466.31 million in the first half, up 16.5% on same time last year.

It will pay an interim dividend of 14.5 cents per share, fully franked.

TPG Telecom lost 2.5 per cent after posting an annual profit after tax of $52 million in 2025 from a loss of $140 million from a year earlier.

Annual revenue rose 3% to $5.04 billion.

It declared an interim dividend of 9 cents per share.

Virgin Australia was down 0.5% posted a 27.9% fall in statutory net profit to $341 million for the six months to December.

(LSEG)

3h agoFri 27 Feb 2026 at 12:38am

Consumer staples on the nose

The negative investor reaction to Coles’ results is dragging the broader consumer staples sector down.

The sector is down 3.2% at 11:35am AEDT.

Coles’ result was hurt by accounting for significant items relating to historical underpayments.

Liquor sales were also weaker early in the reporting period.

4h agoFri 27 Feb 2026 at 12:29am

Coles shares dive

Shares in Coles have slumped 7% to $20.67 at 11:30 AEDT.

It follows the release of the company’s half year results.

The blog will have more posts on this.

4h agoFri 27 Feb 2026 at 12:20am

Quiet markets

David Taylor stepping into the blog.

I’ll take you through the afternoon.

It’s a little quiet so far on the markets front: equities, Australian dollar, treasuries, oil, precious metals … not a lot happening.