The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 23.2 points higher, or 0.3 per cent, at 8618.4 in a choppy session, despite an increasing probability of higher borrowing costs in the coming months.
BetMakers advanced 5.7 per cent to 18.5¢ as it signed an exclusive five-year agreement with Betfair to provide technology for the launch of premium wagering brand CrownBet.
Vulcan Energy Resources tumbled 33 per cent to $4.1 after raising €398 million ($710 million) in shares at $4 to finance a renewable energy project.
Regis Healthcare fell 3.9 per cent to $7.64 on news it agreed to sell its Ayr and Home Hill aged care homes in Queensland to not-for-profit provider Ozcare.
Due to a surge in copper prices:
BHP soared 3.7 per cent to $44.55, the highest level since October 2024, bringing this year’s gains to 13 per cent.
Rio Tinto soared to a record high of $140.12, having rallied 19 per cent this year.
US
Meta jumped 4% after reports that it would slash budgets for its Metaverse initiative by as much as 30%.
The S&P 500 edged up by 0.1% and is just 0.5% below its all-time high, continuing a relatively calm run following weeks of sharp swings.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was up 408.40 points (0.86%) today, reaching 47882.90, as investors focused on growing expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut.
Crypto
Linea and Ethereum Mainnet upgrade simultaneously for the first time with updates that enhance onboarding, security, and overall performance on Linea. (s)
Economy
October household spending indicator: 1.3%mth, 5.6%yr. (ABS)
ADP data shows private employment dropped last month, following a unclear BLS September report amid ongoing government shutdown obscuring economic visibility.
Private employers in the US shed 32,000 jobs in November, according to unofficial data that has gained a more prominent role since the record government shutdown delayed the release of official figures. ($FT)
Soft retail sales, declining consumer confidence, and another subdued manufacturing survey reinforced the case for monetary easing, boosting rate-sensitive sectors like homebuilders, transports, chemicals, and consumer stocks.
Yields on Japan’s benchmark government bonds rose to their highest level since 2007 as investors fretted over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s spending plans and braced themselves for an interest rate increase. ($FT)
Bond investors have told the US Treasury they are concerned about Kevin Hassett’s potential appointment as Federal Reserve chair, worrying he will cut interest rates aggressively to please President Donald Trump. ($FT)
Business
Meta has poached top Apple design executive Alan Dye, in a blow to the iPhone maker as the social media group steps up its efforts to sell wearable artificial intelligence-powered devices. ($FT)
Rio Tinto will raise up to $15.1 billion in asset sales and cut spending on decarbonisation by $6 billion under chief executive Simon Trott’s plan to make the miner “stronger, sharper and simpler”. ($AFR)
OpenAI has agreed to acquire Neptune, a startup that provides tools that help companies track their AI model training, the ChatGPT maker said on Wednesday. (TR)
Australia’s Fortescue said that it would cooperate with a subsidiary of China Baowu, the world’s largest steelmaker, to explore new green technology for accelerating decarbonisation in the hard-to-abate steel industry. (TR)
Hedge fund QVG Capital appears to have successfully bet against two of the Australian sharemarket’s more controversial companies – DroneShield and Corporate Travel Management. ($AFR)
Cambricon Technologies Corp. plans to more than triple its production of AI chips in 2026, aiming to wrest market share from Huawei Technologies Co. in China and fill a void left by Nvidia Corp.’s forced exit. ($BBG)
ING Groep NV has created a new unit for private markets deals labeling the business as a “key growth” area within its wholesale banking division. ($BBG)
ANZ Group Holdings Ltd. Chair Paul O’Sullivan shouldn’t be re-elected, the Australian Shareholders’ Association said in a recommendation that heightens the stakes at the bank’s upcoming annual general meeting. ($BBG)
Currencies
The U.S. dollar was soft on Thursday after lacklustre economic data cemented the case for a rate cut from the Federal Reserve next week, providing relief to the yen and pushing the euro to its highest level in nearly seven weeks. (TR)
Politics
Brussels is planning a new antitrust investigation into Meta over the rollout of artificial intelligence features within WhatsApp, in the EU’s latest challenge to Big Tech. ($FT)
President Donald Trump proposed drastic cuts to fuel efficiency standards for US vehicles, in another salvo against electric cars set to benefit the auto and oil industries. ($FT)
Australia’s internet regulator said a teen social media ban would be the first domino to fall in a global push to rein in Big Tech, as Meta’s Instagram, Facebook and Threads began locking out hundreds of thousands of accounts ahead of a deadline next week. (TR)
Deal Flow
Private credit group Blue Owl and its employees spent $200mn in recent days to buy stock in the firm and two of its publicly traded vehicles, after their shares slid following a failed merger of two of its funds. ($FT)
Mineral explorer and developer Andean Silver has launched a $30 million capital raising to fund its drilling efforts at the Cerro Bayo silver-gold mine in southern Chile. ($AFR)
Phil Zhou, an executive financial adviser at Shaw and Partners, has made the switch to Morgan Stanley Wealth Management in a significant loss for the business. ($AFR)
Vulcan Energy Resources had Morgan Stanley and Canaccord Genuity open books for a $1.1 billion equity raising on Wednesday morning. ($AFR)
US-focused critical minerals tearaway Locksley Resources went cap in hand to fund managers on Thursday, seeking to raise up to $15 million via an institutional placement. ($AFR)
BGH Capital bets on $200m childcare business, defying sector jitters. ($AFR)
Quadrant Private Equity has owned MotorOne for almost 10 years, slotting it into a continuation fund in 2022. Now, Brisbane’s Alvia Private Capital is betting on a little-known auto parts business, The Automotive Group, to ride the same thematic. ($AFR)
ARN Media trims stake in Southern Cross Media; Barrenjoey on trade. ($AFR)
Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Co., one of the region’s most prolific private credit players with a $20 billion portfolio, said its bets were holding up well and batted away concerns over structural issues within the sector. ($BBG)
Independent Research
JP Morgan release their 2026 Market Outlook with the title, “Promise and Pressure // Investing in the new frontier of AI, fragmentation and inflation”. (s)
Opinion
HSBC has pulled forward its forecasts of a rate hike by the Reserve Bank due to high inflation. It is now tipping the start of the tightening cycle in the September quarter of 2026, from early 2027 in a previous forecast.
