1h agoTue 16 Sep 2025 at 9:51pmMarket snapshotASX futures: -0.5% to 8,832 pointsASX 200 (Tuesday close): +0.3% to 8,878 pointsAustralian dollar: +0.3% at 66.85 US centsWall Street: Dow Jones (-0.3%), S&P 500 (-0.1%), Nasdaq (-0.1%)Europe: FTSE (-0.9%), DAX (-1.8%), Stoxx 600 (-1.1%)Spot gold: +0.3% to $US3,690/ounceOil (Brent crude): +1.6% to $US 68.50/barrelIron ore: +0.7% to $US106.30/tonneBitcoin: +1.3% at $US116,913

Prices current at around 7:40am AEST

3m agoTue 16 Sep 2025 at 11:28pmOil prices rise after Ukraine drone attacks target Russian supply

Oil prices rose over a dollar a barrel as traders weighed the possibility that Russian supplies may be disrupted by Ukrainian drone attacks on its ports and refineries.

Brent crude futures rose 1.5% to $US68.47 a barrel.

US West Texas Intermediate crude futures lifted 1.9% to $US64.52 a barrel.

Russia’s oil pipeline monopoly Transneft has warned producers they may have to cut output following Ukraine’s drone attacks on critical export ports and refineries, three industry sources said.

Ukraine has intensified attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure in recent weeks, disrupting operations at Russia’s key western oil terminal Primorsk last week as talks to end their conflict have stalled.

“An attack on an export terminal like Primorsk is aimed more at limiting Russia’s ability to sell its oil abroad, affecting export markets,” said JP Morgan analysts.

“More importantly, the attack suggests a growing willingness to disrupt international oil markets, which has the potential to add upside pressure on oil prices,” they said.

Goldman Sachs estimates that the Ukrainian attacks have taken out about 300,000 barrels per day of Russian refining capacity in August and so far this month.

Also on investors’ radar is the US Federal Reserve’s September 16-17 meeting.

The central bank is expected to cut interest rates, which should stimulate the economy and boost fuel demand. Still, analysts were cautious on the health of the US economy.

21m agoTue 16 Sep 2025 at 11:11pmBHP to sack 750 coal workers in Queensland

One of Queensland’s biggest coal miners will cut about 750 jobs across its operations, blaming the impact of high royalties imposed by the state government.

The BHP Mitsubishi Alliance says its Saraji South mine at Dysart will be mothballed from November.

For more on this breaking news story, you can follow it here:

31m agoTue 16 Sep 2025 at 11:01pmAlan Kohler on Australia’s version of the ‘Coldplay kiss cam scandal’

If you need a recap of what happened on the Australian share market yesterday, I can certainly recommend Alan Kohler’s finance report.

Alan broke down what’s going on with Super Retail Group, which has seen its share price drop nearly 10% in the past week. (It’s the company that owns Rebel Sport, Supercheap Auto and BCF).

In particular, he explains how CEO Anthony Hegarty was sacked for an undeclared office romance with the company’s head of human resources (comparing it with the “Coldplay kiss cam scandal”):

Loading…47m agoTue 16 Sep 2025 at 10:44pmThe Federal Home Guarantee Scheme is expanding, but just how many will be able to afford to buy in?

To try and keep pace with the nation’s soaring housing market, the federal government’s Home Loan Guarantee for first home buyers is being expanded from October 1.

The scheme, which lets buyers purchase a first home with as little as a 5 per cent deposit, will have its income limits abolished and price caps dramatically hiked to more than $1 million in some cities.

But how much will it actually cost, and are the maximum borrowing limits realistic, when you compare wages to the cost of a loan?

Lexy Hamilton-Smith took a look into this matter, and the results may be disheartening for many aspiring first home owners:

1h agoTue 16 Sep 2025 at 10:30pmTrump risks plunging the US into recession, says economics professor Justin Wolfers

Donald Trump says there’s “NO INFLATION!!!” in America.

But the official data doesn’t lie. It shows consumer prices rose 2.9% in the year to August, well above the US Federal Reserve’s target.

This is putting the central bank in a difficult position, says the University of Michigan’s economics professor, Justin Wolfers.

If the US president acts “in a relatively sensible way, I think there’s a roughly one-in-four chance of a recession over the next year,” he told The Business host Alicia Barry.

But if the president “were to lean in to full-throttle Trumpism, trying to take away the independence of the Fed, getting our trading partners offside, destroying the bureaucracy, and instituting a form of crony capitalism, I think the chances of a recession over the next 12 months [will] skyrocket maybe as much as 70 per cent,” he added.

You can listen to Professor Wolfers’s full insights here:

Loading…1h agoTue 16 Sep 2025 at 10:17pmThousands of people contest wills as house prices soar

A will can offer peace of mind for families before the death of a loved one, but the process can also go horribly wrong.

Those who seek to be beneficiaries of a will may need legal assistance.

Some lawyers say the rate of people dying intestate (ie without a valid will) has risen to around 60%, which is very high.

More people are contesting wills to try to get a slice of a deceased relative’s estate. That’s because there’s a lot of money tied up in these estates, with house prices rising and a boom in the share market.

For more, here’s the story by David Taylor (again)!

Loading…1h agoTue 16 Sep 2025 at 10:04pmCashrewards’s abrupt closure leaves shoppers many unanswered questions

Cashrewards — a loyalty program that once had 2.5 million Australians in its database — has left many shoppers stunned after its abrupt shutdown last week.

The cashback website pays back its members a percentage of the purchase price in cash after they shop in its partnered retailers.

At this stage, we don’t know why Cashrewards closed down.

Neither Cashrewards, nor ANZ Bank’s venture capital fund 1835i, which owns the cashback app, have made any public statements.

According to the Australian Financial Review, Cashrewards was failing to meet ANZ’s expectations, amid a wider review of the bank’s performance and profitability by its new chief executive, Nuno Matos.

For more, here’s the story by Yiying Li:

1h agoTue 16 Sep 2025 at 9:54pmThere’s a 100 per cent chance the US will cut interest rates tomorrow, according to markets

The world’s largest central bank, the Federal Reserve, has begun its two-day meeting — and it will almost certainly lead to US interest rates being cut by 0.25 percentage points.

Money markets are 100% certain that will be the outcome, after a months-long bullying campaign by Donald Trump (who has repeatedly called Fed chair Jerome Powell a “major loser”, while trying to fire the bank’s governor, Lisa Cook, for alleged mortgage fraud on very flimsy grounds).

However, it’s likely the Fed would be cutting rates anyway, regardless of the US president’s attempts to interfere with the bank’s independence.

The latest economic figures from America are pointing to a major slowdown in the jobs market, with hiring slowing to a crawl and a big uptick in workers filing for unemployment benefits.

This will probably force the hand of the Fed, which is currently more concerned about a slowing economy rather than the recent rebound in inflation.

(To be fair, they’re worried about both scenarios. So whether they lift or cut interest rates could produce bad results for the US economy, especially if it enters into a period of stagflation, which we’ll get into later).

For more, here’s an interesting analysis piece by my colleague David Taylor:

1h agoTue 16 Sep 2025 at 9:50pm

ASX to follow Wall Street lower ahead of US rate cut decision

Good morning, and welcome to the ABC’s finance blog! I’ll be your guide for the next few hours.

Wall Street’s main indexes fell slightly from their record highs, as investors decided to take profits (cash out) ahead of the US interest rate decision (expected tomorrow at 4am AEST).

The Dow Jones index slipped 0.3%, to 45,758 points, while the S&P 500 lost 0.1%, to 6,607 points and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.1% to 22,334 points.

Our local share market is likely to start its day marginally lower, with ASX futures down 0.5%.

However, the Australian dollar has risen to a 10-month high of around 66.85 US cents.

That’s because the US greenback has weakened on expectations interest rates are about to be slashed in America.

Spot gold, meanwhile, continues to hit new record highs. It briefly went above $US3,700 per ounce overnight.

Basically, when rates are coming down, it increases the attractiveness of holding assets that don’t pay interest, like precious metals.

Also, it’s because there’s a lot of “safe haven” demand for gold due to heightened levels of geopolitical conflict and concerns about the health of the US economy, tariffs and trillions of dollars in government debt.