Only three of Transurban’s 17 toll roads got busier during the March quarter – and one of those was in the United States – as coronavirus restrictions slowed average daily traffic across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Car trips on nearly all the company’s Australian roads fell in the three months […]
Vinson
Gold price dips along with equities
Gold prices have fallen, a day after scaling over seven-year highs, as the dollar firmed and investors booked profits, although concerns of a global recession put a floor under prices. Spot gold fell 0.6 per cent to $US1,716.79 per ounce. On Tuesday, prices had jumped as much as 1.9 per […]
Copper dips as recession fear hits markets
Copper has fallen as moves by China’s central bank to bolster the economy were overshadowed by predictions of a deep global recession, which drove down stock markets and oil prices. Copper, used in power and construction, has tumbled from above $US6,300 a tonne in mid January to as low as […]
Oil sinks after record US crude build
US crude prices fell to an 18-year low and Brent lost more than 6.0 per cent after the United States reported its biggest weekly inventory build on record, while global demand is expected to fall to quarter-century lows due to the coronavirus pandemic. The grim figures undercut the positive feeling […]
Wall St falls on dour US economic data
US stocks have fallen as dismal economic and first-quarter earnings reports compounded concerns over the extent of damage from the coronavirus outbreak. Shares of Bank of America and Citigroup Inc dropped as they joined JPMorgan Chase & Co and Wells Fargo & Co in reporting a slump in first-quarter profits. […]
G20 to freeze debt of poorest countries
Finance officials from the Group of 20 major economies have agreed to suspend debt service payments for the world’s poorest countries through the end of the year, a move quickly matched by a group of hundreds of private creditors. The actions to freeze both principal repayments and interest payments will […]
Apple releases budget $US399 iPhone SE
Apple Inc has released a smaller iPhone priced at $US399 ($A633), cutting the starting price for the company’s smartphone line in a move to broaden its appeal to budget-conscious customers as the coronavirus hobbles the global economy. The lower-cost model could also attract more consumers to Apple services, a growing […]
US retail sales plunge unprecedented 8.7{4c4eada76ecf1be575223a4ba5c40f01738ab49b07447a5a057265ba4edb475a}
US retail sales have plummeted 8.7 per cent in March, an unprecedented decline, as the viral outbreak forces an almost complete lock down of commerce across the country. The deterioration of sales far outpaces the previous record decline of 3.9 per cent that took place during the depths of the […]
Asia shares pull back from one-month highs
Asian shares have paused at one-month highs as warnings of the worst global recession since the 1930s underlined the economic damage already done even as some countries tried to re-open for business. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was a slight 0.1 per cent firmer in early trade. […]
Consumer confidence up but clouds gather
Consumer confidence has climbed for a second week running as Australia’s coronavirus curve eases, though economists expects weak jobs data and poor business indicators to take an increasing toll. The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence survey rose close to 9.0 per cent as improved coronavirus indicators and government stimulus […]