After a three-month run as the most-traded ASX stock on Selfwealth’s platform, Neuron Pharmaceuticals ceded its spot to CBA in June as healthcare, mining and banking stocks jostled for investors’ attention.
Bill Evans, who will step down next year after three decades as Westpac’s chief economist, says “deeply pessimistic” consumer sentiment despite the RBA’s recent pause is a sign of further hikes ahead.
It’s the second time ASIC fined Openmarkets over its handling of market-manipulating wash trades by the same client, but the retail broker’s agreement to an enforceable undertaking led to a reduced penalty.
While markets expected a pause, the RBA board’s hawkish tone implying a further cut in August surprised many. For Australia’s property sector in particular, observers say the path to a soft landing may be getting even more treacherous.
More cranes signal greater construction activity and point to a sound economic outlook. Property lender Thinktank examines the current skyline and what it means for the market.
The regulator, which is cracking down on financial product issuers for violating requirements and obligations around how they market to investors, issued its first stop order over a superannuation product, temporarily closing Spaceship Super to new investments.
The test allows investors who can certify that they earn $250,000 a year or have more than $2.5 million in net assets to access higher-risk securities normally off-limits to individuals. But many say the test is confusing and outdated, and an independent statutory body has called for an update.
While analysts see a negotiated deal as the most likely outcome, a compromise is still not guaranteed. The bigger concern, they say, stems from ballooning government debt loads across developed markets in the wake of pandemic spending.
Buy-now-pay-later products look like credit, act like credit and carry the risk of credit, so they should be subject to the same regulatory scrutiny as credit products, the financial services minister said.
Significant global and domestic pressures have created a particularly challenging environment for small businesses, which are facing higher costs and lower revenue as “long-tail effects” of the pandemic, the peak industry body says in new research.
