Traffic slows, toll prices will still rise

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Toll giant Transurban says contracted price increases will still apply in Sydney and Melbourne roads from Wednesday even as coronavirus lockdown measures put the brakes on traffic volume. Tolls for cars will increase by between 2.0 and 8.0 cents a trip on some of Sydney’s toll roads and trips on […]

Kathmandu announces capital-raising – 9Finance

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Kathmandu Holdings will raise $NZ207 million ($A201 million) to strengthen its balance sheet amid the coronavirus pandemic and a 40 per cent drop in profit. The New Zealand company will raise equity via a fully underwritten $NZ30 million institutional placement and a 1.2 for one pro-rata accelerated non-renounceable entitlement offer […]

Gold slides, but set for quarterly gain

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Gold prices dipped over 2.0 per cent to their lowest level in a week as the US dollar firmed, but the metal was on track for a sixth straight quarterly rise on concerns about the global economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Spot gold fell 2.1 per cent to […]

Copper suffers worst quarter since 2011

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Copper prices have risen after data showed an unexpected rebound in factory activity in China, but were set for their worst quarter since 2011 as the coronavirus outbreak shut down swathes of the global economy, reducing the need for metals. Benchmark copper was up 3.5 per cent at $US4,935.50 a […]

Oil prices post biggest quarterly losses

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Crude oil benchmarks ended a volatile quarter with their biggest losses in history, as both US and Brent futures were hammered throughout March on the global economic freeze due to the coronavirus pandemic and the eruption of a price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia. Both benchmarks lost roughly two-thirds […]

Wall Street edges higher at start of trade

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US stock markets are steady at the end of the worst first quarter for the S&P 500 since 1938 amid growing evidence of the large scale damage caused by the collapse in oil prices and business activity due to the coronavirus. Real estate stocks, utilities and consumer staples – commonly […]

Australian Country Road shops closed

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South Africa’s Woolworths Holdings has closed all Country Road Group stores in Australia for four weeks and will stand down 5000 employees there who will not be paid during the period in a bid to restrict the spread of the coronavirus. After more than 4000 cases of coronavirus and 19 […]

Star, G8 and SRG latest to defer dividends

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Star Entertainment Group, G8 Education and SRG Global are the latest companies to defer their payouts to shareholders as they cope with lockdown measures that have devasted their businesses. G8 Education says it will pay its final dividend in October rather than April, while Star is deferring its payout from […]

Asian share markets make cautious gains

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Asian share markets have managed a tentative rally after European and US equities stabilised, though buying for month and quarter-end book balancing likely flattered the gains. There were also hopes a survey of Chinese manufacturing due later would show a sizable improvement for March as factories began to reopen. Forecasts […]