ASX Opens Higher, Tabcorp Crashes Due to Money Laundering Probe

The topic is the stock market.

Wall Street's S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices have reached new record highs, while global oil prices have fallen.

The ASX started strong but is losing momentum. Tabcorp's shares have dropped due to a money laundering investigation.

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By Stephen Letts

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By Adelaide Miller

The ARN AGM has ended with a storm hitting North Sydney.

90% of shareholders voted against the remuneration report.

A strike is recorded if 25% of shareholders vote against remuneration.

ARN's share price has dropped over 50% in the past 12 months.

Key Event

By Jane Norman

Energy giants will set aside gas for the domestic market from July.

The new scheme will apply to all producers, requiring them to reserve a percentage of gas for Australian use.

The announcement comes after the government killed off a campaign to increase taxes on gas giants.

Relevant embassies have been briefed ahead of the announcement.

The government is expected to initially target uncontracted spot cargoes.

Australia is one of the world's biggest LNG exporters.

WA introduced its own domestic gas reservation scheme a decade ago.

Key Event

By Stephen Letts

The ASX 200's opening gains are starting to fade.

At 11:20am AEST, the ASX had gained 0.7% to 8,858 points.

The mining-dominated material sector has been the strongest performer.

Energy and energy-related utilities have been a drag.

There have been big gains across all the big miners.

The biggest gains have been made in the uranium sector.

Most leading players are up 6-to-7%.

All the oil and gas plays are lower after global oil prices tanked overnight.

The banks have opened strongly having started jacking up their borrowing rates.

Uranium stocks are well represented in the ASX 200's top movers.

Tabcorp is the biggest loser after informing the market that financial detectives from AUSTRAC are investigating potential money laundering and terrorism funding breaches.

Key Event

By Adelaide Miller

A shareholder asked if ARN chair Hamish McLennan personally signed the Kyle and Jackie O contracts.

Mr McLennan said while he didn't sign the contract, he did sign a document to show his support.

He said there was a competitive offer on the table from elsewhere and wanted to support the talent.

There was another question regarding ARN seeking legal advice before engaging with Mr Sandilands.

Key Event

By Adelaide Miller

Question time is underway at the ARN annual general meeting.

A shareholder said the share price of ARN had dropped dramatically.

The shareholder asked the chair to reflect on what his three mistakes had been as chair.

The chair admitted he and the board were not happy with where ARN was at.

He said the board was aligned and made the best decision it could at the time.

He said the board was looking at how it could improve the value of the industry.

He said he was committed to the company and admitted the value of the shares had gone down.

Key Event

By Stephen Letts

Just a quick look across the ASX 200 sectors on opening.

There have been big gains in the mining-focused materials sector.

Banks and insurers are also doing well.

The energy sector is getting hammered.

Key Event

By Stephen Letts

The ASX 200 has bounced out of the blocks this morning.

At 10:12am AEST the ASX 200 was up 1.0% to 8,883 points.

Key Event

By Stephen Letts

Australia's financial crime watchdog has launched a probe into Tabcorp.

Within minutes of opening, Tabcorp shares had tumbled almost 25%.

The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre will initially focus on whether Tabcorp has a compliant anti-money-laundering programme.

The enforcement investigation is at an early stage.

Tabcorp chairman Brett Chenoweth said the board and executive were fully committed to collaborating with AUSTRAC.

It is not the first time Tabcorp has faced AUSTRAC scrutiny.

Tabcorp agreed to pay $45 million to settle the money laundering suit with the agency in 2017.

With Reuters

Key Event

By Stephen Letts

The first analyst reviews have landed about Orica's first half loss.

RBC's Mark Wilson viewed the first half as positive.

Orica's first half loss of $600,000 was weighed down by one-off costs of $284 million.

The loss was not unexpected given previously flagged litigation costs.

Mr Wilson said the company's outlook remained positive.

J.P. Morgan's Lee Power said the result was a solid outcome.

Key Event

By Stephen Letts

The Aussie dollar is hovering near a four-year high against the US dollar.

As the CBA team said in its morning note, AUD/USD temporarily increased toward 0.7280.

However, interest rate differentials pose a significant downside risk to AUD/USD.

We expect the Reserve Bank of Australia has finished its current tightening cycle.

Key Event

By Adelaide Miller

During his opening address, ARN chair Hamish McLennan acknowledged the ongoing legal battles.

Both presenters have separately filed court cases against ARN.

ARN is committed to pursuing these cross claims in the courts.

ARN's revenue for FY25 was $285 million, down 10% from the FY24 year.

By Michael Janda

CBA's commodity strategist Vivek Dhar says global sales of electric vehicles fell by 7% year-on-year in March.

This sounds completely counterintuitive when oil prices surged to multi-year highs.

But it was all driven by policy changes in China.

EV sales outside of China generally rose, as they have been in Australia.

By Adelaide Miller

We've arrived at North Sydney for the ARN annual general meeting.

It's the first time it has happened since KIIS hosts Kyle and Jackie O's show was axed.

Key Event

By Stephen Letts

Here's Reuters' take on the collapse in oil prices overnight.

Oil prices fell sharply to two-week lows on Wednesday.

Brent crude futures settled $US8.60, or 7.8%, lower at $US101.27/barrel.

US West Texas Intermediate crude lost $US7.19, or 7.03%, to $US95.08.

A source from mediator Pakistan said the United States and Iran were closing in on an agreement.

Iran said on Wednesday it was reviewing a new US proposal.

US media outlet Axios reported that the US expects Iranian responses on several key points.

There's a growing sense that the chance of the Strait of Hormuz reopening is greater.

Key Event

By Stephen Letts

Global explosives maker Orica has posted a first half loss of $600,000.

The loss was not unexpected given previously flagged litigation costs.

Profit before significant items was $283.1 million, up 8% on a year ago.

By Michael Janda

I'm guessing most people would emphatically reply, neither.

The bank, which will pay it out to savers, bondholders and shareholders?

Or the government, which can use it to reduce debt, fund public services and build infrastructure?

Key Event

By Stephen Letts

Home building costs are set to jump by between 4% and 12% in the coming year.

CBA says higher diesel, freight and petrochemical costs are flowing through to construction costs.

The central estimate is that the war adds 4.0% to aggregate dwelling input costs over the coming year.

Key Event

By Stephen Letts

As NAB's morning note put it, the markets are running on hope again today.

The US issuing a one-page memorandum of understanding to Iran sparked hope that month-long peace talks could start.

Markets have taken this all as good news, even though the Straits remain closed and oil reserves continue to fall.

The hottest action was again among AI and chip-making stocks.

Advanced Micro Devices soared almost 19% to a record high.

The risk-on splurge wasn't limited to the US.

European stocks rallied hard as well with the pan-European Eurostoxx 50 gaining 2.7%.

That sentiment looks like flowing through to local markets today with ASX futures at 7am AEST pointing to a 1.2% gain.

The peace in our time vibe crushed oil prices with the global benchmark Brent crude futures at one point dipping below $US100/barrel.

At 7:30am AEST:

The risk on pattern saw the US dollar slip, driving the Aussie dollar higher.

Gold rose about 3%, but at $US4,690/ounce is still 12% off its pre-war peak.

Iron ore was also higher, hitting the $US110.00 level and copper also edged higher.

Depending on definitions, this is the fifth time a lasting peace deal has been imminent since the conflict started.

With Reuters

By Stephen Letts

Prices current at around 7:00am AEST

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Key Event