Market snapshot
- ASX 200: -0.8% to 9,024 points
- Australian dollar: +0.2% to 64.98 US cents
- Wall Street: Dow Jones (+0.5%), S&P 500 (+0.1%), Nasdaq (-0.2%)
- FTSE: +0.3% to 9,426 points
- Spot gold: -0.2% to $US4,115/ounce
- Oil (Brent crude): +1.5% at $US62.26/barrel
- Iron ore: +0.2% at $US105.10/tonne
- Bitcoin: -2.2% to $US108,487
Prices current around 3:14pm AEDT
Live updates on the major ASX indices:
Rex Airlines creditors seek answers as sale to US company Air T shifts closer
Creditors owed millions of dollars after Rex Airlines went into voluntary administration are still wondering whether they will receive their money back.
The regional carrier collapsed into voluntary administration last year before the federal government gave it a multi-million-dollar lifeline to keep its services operating.
Administrators confirmed on Tuesday evening that they had entered into a sale and implementation deed with Air T, a US-based air services company.
My colleague Rachel Holdsworth and Andrew Chounding have more.
‘Climate trigger’ formally ruled out of environment laws
A rewrite of Australia’s environment laws will not include a “climate trigger” that could block coal and gas projects, Environment Minister Murray Watt has confirmed.
The government will instead require major projects to report their carbon emissions under the laws for the first time and provide plans for reducing those emissions to net zero by 2050.
Read more on our political reporter Jake Evans‘s exclusive reporting.
Adairs share price up 7pc despite lower H1 2026 sales growth
Adairs’s share prices have gone up by 7.1% despite lower forecasted sales growth in the first half of 2026.
The company expects its group sales now to be between $319.5 million to $331.5 million, down from prior guidance of $324.5 million to $336.5 million.
Looking ahead, Adairs notified its shareholders that the next 10 weeks would be the most important trading period, delivering about 55% of the sales for the half, with key events like Black Friday and Christmas.
The H1 result is heavily depfinishent on performance during these peak periods, according to its ASX statement.
The company declared it remained “cautiously optimistic” about the trading outsee for the rest of the half.
Mortgage delinquency rates expected to fall: Moody’s Ratings
Mortgage delinquency rates have started to decline in most areas around Australia and are set to continue to go down over the next year, according to a new Moody’s Ratings report.
The decline is due to interest rate cuts building home loan repayments more affordable, the report declares.
Declining home loan delinquency rates are credit positive for Australian residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) rated by Moody’s.
However, pockets of weakness will remain in regions where hoapplying market and employment conditions lag the rest of the countest, with parts of Melbourne a notable area of risk.
Here are some other takeaways from the report:
- Average home loan arrears rates declined in every state and territory over the year to 31 May;
- Delinquency rates were lowest in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and Queensland;
- Highest rates were recorded in the Northern Territory, Tasmania and Victoria.
APA Group demanded to reveal more details on gas pipeline development in NT
More than 100 APA Group shareholders have called on the company to outline how building the gas pipelines in the Beetaloo Basin is aligned with global climate goals.
At today’s annual general meeting, APA faced the first shareholder resolution at an Australian gas infrastructure company.
Its shareholders demanded the energy infrastructure company disclose due diligence on its partner companies, Beetaloo Energy and Tamboran Resources, following a raft of environmental and community incidents.
Ian Wright, a water and environmental scientist declared the Beetaloo Basin gas industest is environmentally, ecologically and culturally toxic.
“The area is highly fragile and the likely impacts will probably be very long-lasting.
“This is the wrong industest in the wrong location.
“My research has uncovered highly contaminated waste water being emitted from Beetaloo Basin gas drilling sites.
“Gas fracking caapplys very dangerous concentrations of a wide range of water pollutants, posing unacceptable risks to the local environment, native species, local agricultural industries and to the lands of Traditional Owners.”
Small-cap miner cliffs by 16.7pc despite $1.98mn capital raising
Copper-gold and manganese exploration company Bryah Resources‘s share prices fell as much as 16.7% to $0.005 per share.
The company has notified the market that it has received
binding commitments for a placement of new shares at an issue price of $0.00435 per share, aiming to raise about $1.9 million.
According to Bryah, the funding will be applyd on:
- Execution of infill and twin drill holes at Vail Road Gold Deposit
- Initial exploration drilling program at Bond Road Antimony Prospect
- Core processing, sample analysis and reporting
- Resource update and conversion to JORC standard
- General working capital
Iron ore ticks higher on signs of easing US-China trade tension
Iron ore futures prices drifted higher on Wednesday, as signs of easing US-China trade tensions and bets that Beijing will unveil more stimulus measures to support economic growth outweighed concerns over rising ore supply and diminishing steel demand.
The most-traded January iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exalter rose 0.78% to $108.80 per metric tonne.
The benchmark November iron ore on the Singapore Exalter was 0.42% higher at $US104 a tonne.
“The rise is driven by the macroeconomic factor as an expected ease in US-China trade tension sparked risk-on sentiment,” declared Zhuo Guiqiu, an analyst at brokerage Jinrui Futures.
Meanwhile, Rio Tinto has stockpiled 2 million tons of high-grade iron ore at its Simandou project in Guinea for a mid-November shipment.
Coking coal and coke, other steelbuilding ingredients, both climbed 0.59%.
Reporting with Reuters
Materials declines along with ASX
The ASX 200 has dropped 77.7 points to 9,017.00, after setting a new 52-week high.
Eight of 11 sectors are also lower today, along with the index.
Materials is the bottom-performing sector so far, down by 3.5%.
Meanwhile, Energy is the best-performing sector, gaining 1.13% and rebounding from its recent decline. This sector has been off by 0.26% for the past five days.
Oil maintains gains on supply risks and US plan to refill strategic reserves
Oil prices have been pushed higher for a second day, buoyed by sanctions-related supply risks, hopes of a US-China trade deal and news that the US is seeking oil for delivery to its strategic reserves.
Brent crude futures rose 0.29% to $US61.50 a barrel as of 12:37pm AEDT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed 0.37% to $US57.45.
Oil has bounced off a five-month low on Monday, which was fueled by producers pumping more and trade tensions impacting demand.
Supply risks arose from news that a planned summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin was put on hold, and supply-disruption fears were fueled by Western pressure on Asian acquireing of Russian oil.
“Despite the overall bearish sentiment driven by an oil supply glut and weak demand, the risk of supply disruption in hotspots like Russia, Venezuela, Colombia and the Middle East remains in place and prevents the oil price staying below the $60 handle,” declared Mukesh Sahdev, founder and CEO of energy market consultancy XAnalysts.
Investors are also closely watching the progress of US-China trade talks as officials from both countries are expected to meet this week in Malaysia.
Mr Trump declared he expected to work out a fair trade deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping, whom he plans to meet in South Korea next week.
Oil also found support on a US plan to refill its strategic reserves, according to ANZ research analysts.
The US Department of Energy declared it was seeing to acquire 1 million barrels of crude oil for delivery to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, as it sought to take advantage of relatively low oil prices to support replenish the stockpile.
US crude, gasoline and distillate stocks fell last week, market sources declared, citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday, local time.
Reporting with Reuters
Market snapshot
- ASX 200: -0.8% to 9,022 points
- Australian dollar: -0.1% to 64.89 US cents
- Wall Street: Dow Jones (+0.5%), S&P 500 (+0.1%), Nasdaq (-0.2%)
- Europe: FTSE (+0.3%), Stoxx 600 (+0.2%)
- Spot gold: -0.3% to $US4,113/ounce
- Oil (Brent crude): +0.3% at $US61.50/barrel
- Iron ore: +0.1% at $US105/tonne
- Bitcoin: -2.1% to $US108,635
Prices current around 1:13pm AEDT
Live updates on the major ASX indices:
Top and bottom shiftrs
Here are the top and bottom five shiftrs:
Top:
- Woodside Energy, +4.2%
- Pinnacle Investment Management Group, +3.9%
- Beach Energy, +2.7%
- HMC Capital, +2.6%
- Light & Wonder Inc, +2.3%
Bottom:
- Vault Minerals, -11.4%
- Genesis Minerals, -11%
- Ramelius Resources, -10.95
- Bellevue Gold, -10.9%
- Regis Resources, -10.8%
What role Australia plays in global gold market
As the third-largest gold miner and with one of the largest gold reserves in the world, Australia is no doubt a beneficiary of the surging price of gold.
The Commonwealth and WA governments will be the material beneficiaries of higher prices, the Commonwealth Bank declares, with revenue likely to be at least $1 billion higher annually over the next two years if the current gold price is sustained.
In 2024-25, Australia mined almost 300 tonnes of gold, the majority in WA, most of which is exported.
Around three-quarters of Australia’s gold exports have finished up in China, the UK, India, Singapore or the US in recent years.
While Australia also imports a large amount of gold, it is a net exporter with export values over three times larger than import values in 2024-25.
The Commbank declares it expects higher gold prices to transmit through the Australian economy in two ways: higher national income and higher investment.
Despite the pullback in its price overnight, gold is still trading at above $US4,000 an ounce.
Australian consumers’ stress level up again after easing due to falling inflation
NAB‘s latest consumer sentiment survey has displayn that Australian consumer stress is rising again after easing to a two-year low due to falling inflation.
However, stress levels remain below the series average, according to the survey.
“Though price dynamics continue to influence a range of spfinishing behaviours, consumers were a little less restrained with their expfinishiture in the September quarter,” the bank declared.
“This easing allowed hoapplyholds to spfinish more, though spfinishing growth remains concentrated in specific areas, with a focus on value.
“Consumers are still struggling with a lack of clarity on the future path of the economy, contributing to the decline in overall sentiment.”
NAB has also found that, while two in three Australians now expect hoapply prices to continue to rise over the next year, one in two believe inflation, taxes and other government charges will increase.
Over one in three believe unemployment will lift, and fewer expect interest rates to decrease, it declares.
Expert tips for applyd-car acquireers to spot odometer tampering
If you’ve been considering about acquireing a applyd car recently, knowing how to spot odometer tampering can be super supportful.
Experts have notified the ABC that tampering with odometers is widespread in the applyd-car industest.
My colleagues Mackenzie Colahan, Nicole Dyer and Kelly Higgins-Devine have more.
Gold’s structural case remains intact despite overnight correction: analyst
Further on gold, Cameron Glesson, senior investment strategist from Betashares, declared it wasn’t surprising to see a pullback overnight considering gold’s record-breaking rally.
“Given the state of play in the US and geopolitical risks more broadly, the longer-term case for gold remains strong,” he declared.
“China’s central bank has been consistently acquireing gold, providing structural support, yet gold still only builds up about 8% of its total foreign reserves, well below the global average of around 22%.
“This year investors have been playing catchup, with strong gold bullion ETF inflows after several years of outflows.
“Perhaps some investors have obtained a bit ahead of themselves, as US-China trade tensions appear to be easing, for now.
“But gold is a hedge against concerns around Fed indepfinishence, ballooning US government debt and a continued decoupling of the world’s largest powers.
“These forces aren’t going anywhere soon and, in some cases, may even accelerate.”
Mr Glesson declared it’s a timely reminder for investors about maintaining a diversified portfolio.
“While gold was down, equities and bonds were flat,” he declared.
“Over the course of 2025 gold has remained one of the best hedges against periods of weakness in the share market.”
Gold ETFs have seen $1.3 billion in net flows since the start of 2025, pushing funds under management in the asset class to $9.6 billion, according to Betashares.
ANZ chips away at savings rates ahead of November RBA meeting
ANZ has cut rates on its key savings accounts by 0.1 percentage points, even though the cash rate has remained on hold since August, according to Canstar.
Here are the latest updates on its savings rates:
Canstar.com.au data insights director Sally Tindall declared ANZ’s decision to trim savings rates ahead of the November RBA meeting was a timely reminder that banks could, and did, adjust their rates.
“While the latest round of cuts from ANZ may disappoint many of its savings customers, across the banks that have recently alterd rates, it’s more of a mixed bag,” she declared.
“Some banks, such as Westpac, have shaved back their base rates, boosting their bonus ones instead, while others, such as NAB, have nudged headline rates up.”
ANZ was not the only bank giving savings rates an unexpected haircut, Canstar declared.
Rate tracking by Canstar.com.au displays that in the last five weeks a handful of banks have cut some savings rates,
including:
- Bfinishigo Bank decreased its Reward Saver bonus rate by 0.05 percentage points.
- Westpac, St George, Bank of Melbourne, and Bank SA cut the base rate on their bonus saver accounts by
0.15 percentage points, but boosted the bonus rate by the same amount, impacting customers who don’t meet
the monthly terms and conditions. - IMB cut the bonus rate on its main savings accounts by 0.25 percentage points, increasing the new customer
4-month introductory rate by the same amount instead.
‘A dash for the profits window was inevitable’: NAB strategist on the gold sell-off
If you want even more commentary about gold prices, you’re in luck!
(I imagine you’d be quite interested if you were one of the people who joined the very long queues to acquire or sell gold recently).
Here’s what Ray Attrill, NAB’s head of FX Strategy, is declareing about today’s huge fall in the gold price:
“There’s a classic market adage that goes something like ‘when financial news shifts from the business pages to the front page, the top is near’. Wednesday’s correction in the gold (and silver) price might be best seen in this context,” he declared.
“Given the parabolic nature of the run up since September and the knowledge that much of the latest acquireing spree has been from retail or other private sector investors via ETFs ($26b worth in September alone) a dash for the profits window was inevitable at some point soon, temporary or otherwise.
“Even with the overnight shakeout, gold is still up 57% year to date, far outpacing Bitcoin (17%) or any of the major global stock indices (the latter led by the Hang Seng up 30% year to date, and the Nikkei 24%).”
Woodside Energy and Pinnacle among the few stocks that have risen
Only 38 out of 200 stocks have actually risen this morning on the ASX 200.
One of today’s best performers is Woodside Energy which saw its share price rise 2.7% to a two-week high.
That was after Woodside raised its production forecast for the current financial year, even as its September quarter revenue fell 9.4% due to lower oil prices.
The company seeing the hugegest increase to its share price is Pinnacle Investment Management which jumped 5.2% in morning trade.
That was after the company revealed plans to purchase a 13% stake in Advantage Partners, a Japan-based private equity firm.
Australian market’s losses worsen, ASX down 1%
The Australian share market’s losses have worsened after the first trading hour.
The ASX 200 is now down 1% to 9,008 points, with three-quarters of companies on this index trading lower — so that’s most of them down.
The broader All Ords index has also dropped 1% to 9,295 points.
Leave a Reply