Topic: Stock

The Australian share market has opened slightly lower in morning trading as Qantas releases its yearly financial report.

Major banks CBA and NAB now predict another interest rate hike this year after July's inflation data.

Meanwhile, tech company Nvidia reported record revenue for a second quarter.

Follow the day's financial news and insights from our specialist business reporters on our live blog.

Disclaimer: this blog is not intended as investment advice.

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By Yiying Li

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By Yiying Li

Smart glasses and other wearable recording devices would be subject to a 12-month import ban under a bill to be introduced to the Senate.

The Greens intend to launch the bill when parliament resumes next month, with several independent crossbenchers also in support.

ABC's national technology reporter Ange Lavoipierre has more.

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By Yiying Li

Further on July household spending.

Recreation and culture spending rose 1.5%.

Spending on gambling activities, major sporting events and cinema attendance all contributed to the rise this month, said Tom Lay, ABS head of business statistics.

Price rises were a notable factor in the 1% rise in food spending and the 1.1% rise in hotels, cafes and restaurants, according to the ABS.

Within hotels, cafes and restaurants, the rise was led by catering services, including restaurants, cafes and takeaway, it said.

Health spending also contributed to the rise, up 1.2%.

Households spent more on pharmaceuticals, general healthcare services, eye care, and dental treatment in July, Mr Lay said.

Nominal fuel spending rose 2.2% as fuel excise duty was increased by 16 cents per litre from July 1 after a partial removal of the cuts resulting from the Federal Government's Fuel Tax Relief measures introduced in April, the ABS added.

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By Yiying Li

Household spending rose 1.1% in July 2026, according to seasonally adjusted figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

This follows a 1% rise in June and a 1.2% rise in May.

Tom Lay, ABS head of business statistics, said this was the third consecutive monthly rise in household spending, led by recreation and culture, food, Hotels, cafes and restaurants, and health.

In nominal terms, household spending was 7% higher than the same time last year, reaching the highest annual growth since June 2023.

More to come.

By Yiying Li

China's industrial firms reported slower profit growth in July, with export-focused sectors riding the global AI boom, while industries reliant on domestic demand remained under pressure.

Weakening domestic demand has strained the broader recovery in the $US20 trillion economy, and external uncertainties, including trade tensions and geopolitical risks, continue to cloud the outlook, pressuring margins and profitability.

Profit at industrial firms grew 11.2% last month from a year earlier, down from a 15.1% increase in June, while profit for the first seven months slowed to 17.6% from 18.7% in the first half, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday.

The computer, communication, and other electronic equipment manufacturing sector jumped 110% while the non-ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing sector leapt 91.8%, leading profit growth in the January-July period.

Notably, fibre optics, optical cable manufacturing, and communication system equipment manufacturing surged by 468.4%, 62.6%, and 55%, respectively, during the period.

Consumer-facing and property-related industries, however, continued to suffer from subdued domestic demand.

China's vice finance minister pledged in late August to roll out additional fiscal support measures in a timely manner after economic indicators pointed to a loss of momentum at the start of the third quarter.

Industrial profit figures cover firms with annual revenue of at least 20 million yuan ($4.13 million) from main operations.

Reporting with Reuters

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By Adelaide Miller

Many Australians are continuing to feel the pressures of a changing housing market, as fewer than half of homes sold at auctions last week, according to new data from Cotality.

12 out of the past 13 weeks have seen a national clearance rate below 50%.

A total of 1,390 homes went under the hammer across the combined capital cities last week, up 8.9% on the previous week.

But this figure was 32.7% below the figures from the same time a year ago.

The weighted average clearance rate finalised at 48.2%, down 0.7% from 48.9% the previous week.

The weighted average clearance rate was roughly 70% this time last year, dropping nearly 22% over the year.

Fewer homes are also being brought to auction, with volumes roughly one third below last year.

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By Adelaide Miller

Meta has settled a landmark court battle over teen social media addiction by agreeing to pay $23.6 billion and adding further child-safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram apps.

The agreement came ahead of Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg being expected to take the stand before a jury in federal court.

You can read the full story below:

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By Adelaide Miller

ANZ is the third major bank to backflip on interest rate predictions, now calling a possible hike in November following July CPI data.

The largest surprises on inflation were from discretionary categories like restaurant meals and domestic holidays, rather than categories that would be more directly affected by higher energy prices, ANZ economists Adam Boyton and Jack Chambers said.

This may suggest that the softening in activity is not as large as previously thought, challenging the RBA’s rationale for holding the cash rate in August.

Unlike NAB, however, ANZ does not think there is "a strong enough case to justify a September hike".

There are signs of some residual seasonality in July monthly CPI – the last three years have each seen strong monthly trimmed mean prints in July. This may be a sign that some price increases at the start of the financial year are not being fully accounted for by the seasonal adjustment process for expenditure classes with a shorter time series.

Westpac says while CPI data did come in "hotter than expected", increasing the chance of a November rate hike, the bank thinks it is more likely the rate will remain steady.

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By Adelaide Miller

The Aussie share market has begun Thursday morning trading in the red, down -0.4% to 9,093 points.

All major sectors are down except Industrials and Utilities.

Of the major stocks, 128 are in the red, 10 are unchanged, and 62 are gaining.

Here are the top movers, with Ramsay Health up +13%.

And here are the bottom movers, with Generation Development Group down -12%.

The Aussie dollar is trading above 71 US cents.

By Gareth Hutchens

Independent economist Saul Eslake says the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) should consider shifting the date of its next Monetary Policy Board meeting by a day (or possibly two).

The RBA's next two-day meeting is scheduled for 28–29 September.

But the next monthly CPI data, for August, will be released on 30th September — the day after the next Monetary Policy Board (MPB) meeting is scheduled to conclude.

Given yesterday's inflation data was a little hotter than expected, and some economists are now saying that the next MPB meeting could be a "live" one (with the possibility that a rate hike may be on the cards), Mr Eslake says the RBA should rearrange its meeting to make sure that it has the most up-to-date inflation data ahead of the meeting:

"Imagine how damaging it could be to the RBA's credibility if it decided to leave interest rates on hold at that meeting, only for the August CPI release the following day to show another higher-than-expected increase in its preferred measure of 'underlying' inflation (as yesterday's July release did)," he says.

"Or, alternatively, suppose that the board decided to raise rates at its next meeting, and the August data turned out to be lower than expected, suggesting that yesterday's number was 'rogue'. Equally embarrassing.

"The RBA has said — rightly — that its judgements will be informed by the data. So given how crucial this data point might be, it makes sense to wait one day for it."

Key Event

By Adelaide Miller

Prices current around 10:10am AEST

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By Adelaide Miller

The Aussie share market has opened slightly lower in morning trading, down -0.2% to 9,111 points.

More to come.

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By Adelaide Miller

Another major bank is predicting a fourth interest rate hike this year, after yesterday's CPI results.

NAB expects the RBA to hike rates again in September.

NAB said the July CPI data showed "inflation running hotter than the RBA expected in early August, and the RBA has repeatedly signalled in recent weeks that the Monetary Policy Board would act if upside risks to inflation were realised".

Headline inflation rose to 3.5% in the year to July, making it lower than before the Iran war in February.

However, the RBA's preferred measure of inflation did not budge, staying at 3.6% for the third straight month.

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By Michael Janda

As reported earlier in the blog, CBA now expects the Reserve Bank to hike interest rates once more, taking the cash rate to a peak of 4.6%, probably in November.

However, if there is a modest silver lining for borrowers, it is that the bank still expects interest rates to start falling next year as the economy slows.

CBA's head of Australian economics Belinda Allen says she still sees scope for the RBA to cut rates in 2027.

"The November hike would be in response to near‑term inflation persistence rather than a materially stronger medium‑term growth outlook," she argued in a note released this morning.

"We continue to expect the economy and labour market to moderate sufficiently to allow the RBA to reverse some of the additional restrictiveness in 2027. But the timing remains uncertain.

"Recent inflation challenges may make the RBA reluctant to move quickly into a cutting cycle, particularly given the resurgence in inflation following the rate cuts in 2025.

"For now though, we maintain our rate cut timing of May and August 2027."

The market is less optimistic, with futures pricing suggesting that interest rates will rise to at least 4.6% and remain there until around September next year, according to Bloomberg data.

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By Adelaide Miller

The ABC team is down at the Qantas press conference where its CEO Vanessa Hudson is fronting the media.

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By Adelaide Miller

The Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers, the parent company of Bunnings Warehouse, Kmart, and Officeworks has released its 2026 full-year results. Here are the main findings:

Managing director Rob Scott said the increase in profit was supported by "strong earnings contributions from the group’s largest divisions, Bunnings Group, Kmart Group and WesCEF".

"Our businesses focused on mitigating cost pressures through productivity initiatives and were able to deliver more value, better service and increased convenience for our retail and business customers," he said.

"As households continued to experience cost of living pressures, our retail businesses dropped prices on thousands of products during the year to support household budgets."

Wesfarmer has also announced a new managing director for Bunnings. Rachael McVitty will take over from Mike Schneider in February next year.

Key Event

By Adelaide Miller

Some of the other key takeaways from the Qantas results are below:

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By Adelaide Miller

Australia's corporate and financial watchdog has warned that private credit is facing its "first real test" amid the collapse of several large borrowers and the limiting of redemptions at several major funds.

Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) chair Sarah Court told a gathering in Sydney that the regulator is closely scrutinising what is a much more lightly regulated sector than the banking industry.

"It is early days, and no doubt more and more information will come out in the weeks and months to come, but, unfortunately, what we're seeing is in Australia the first significant cracks," Ms Court said.

You can read the full piece from business correspondent David Taylor below:

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By Adelaide Miller

Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson says the aviation industry faced "record high fuel costs" during the latest financial year due to the impact of the war in the Middle East.

"This year was defined by two very different operating environments, as a result of the conflict in the Middle East. In the first half, Qantas and Jetstar were both performing strongly, with demand growing across the domestic and international networks. Our new aircraft allowed us to add capacity and open new routes, which helped us to increase revenue," she says.

"The final four months of the year saw business and consumer confidence fall as the conflict and economic headwinds created uncertainty, and some large corporates and Government responded by managing their costs more tightly, reducing demand for travel."

In response to the surge in fuel prices, Ms Hudson says Qantas adjusted fares and capacity, and redeployed aircraft to give customers more options to fly to Europe.

"These actions, along with other mitigations, limited the net impact on earnings to $420 million, despite a $610 million increase in our fuel bill."

Key Event

By Michael Janda

Australia's biggest bank now expects the Reserve Bank to raise interest rates one more time, probably in November, as it seeks to contain stubborn inflation pressures.

Following yesterday's higher-than-expected monthly inflation read from the ABS, CBA's head of Australian economics Belinda Allen believes the central bank will lose patience.

"While one monthly result needs to be interpreted cautiously, the renewed strength across a range of underlying and domestically influenced prices suggests the pace of disinflation has stalled and the September quarter trimmed mean CPI is more likely to come in at 0.9% or higher, above the RBA's implied forecast of 0.8%," she wrote in a note sent out this morning.

"Based on recent RBA communications, we expect this upside surprise to CPI will see the RBA hike the cash rate."

While some analysts are now forecasting a September rate hike, Ms Allen believes the RBA will want to see the quarterly inflation reading (out in late October) before it moves.

"There is also important data to watch and a rate hike is not a done deal. There are different opinions on the board that still need to be debated at the meeting," she added

"At this stage, we do not think the data available by the September meeting will be enough to see the RBA to hike when the board next meets.

"But there is uncertainty around this. GDP data due next week, August labour market data and timely reads on household spending will be important, as will the performance of the housing market."

Markets seemingly back CBA's view, with a 34% chance of a September hike priced in, according to Bloomberg analysis of the futures market, while there's is about a 90% chance of a hike by November and a virtual certainty of one priced in by the end of this year.

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