Latest updates on Key Economic Indicators - Page Online : 15 April 2024

A$: $0.6465 USD (down 0.0072 USD)

Iron (SGX): $111.15 USD (up $2.80 USD)

Oil (WTI): $85.66 USD (up $0.07 USD)

Gold: $2,344.53 USD (down 28.82 USD)

Copper (CME): $4.2585 USD (down $0.0050 USD)

Bit-coin: $63,572.47 (up 2.38%)

Dow Jones: 37,983.24 (down 475.84 pts)

All changes compared to 7am Friday, except Bitcoin.

US rules out any involvement in an offensive targeting Iran

The Islamic Republic's mission to the United Nations said its actions were aimed at punishing "Israeli crimes", but that it now Iran "deemed the matter concluded".

Conversely, Israel says its military has approved "Offensive and defensive action" plans following Iran's reprisal drone strike on Israel despite Iran's strike generating no serious injuries whatsoever.

Iran's reprisal drone strike comes amid reports that the United States has told Israel it will not take part in any future counter-attack against Iran..

Israel said on Sunday local time that it had shot down almost all of the more than 300 drones and missiles launched toward its territory by Iran on Saturday, which is not surprising given that Iran had issued a pending strike warning & launched drones and missles with a flight time of 'Hours' required to reach there targets, making them virtually impossible for the Isreali's to miss.

The missiles and drones had been fired from countries including Iran, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

An air force base in southern Israel was hit but continued to operate as normal and a seven-year-old child was seriously hurt by shrapnel. 

There were no other reports of serious damage.

Iran launched the attack in response to a strike by Israel on its consulate in Demasscus, which under international law, is considered sovreign Iranian land. which effectively means Isreal had attacked Iran.

The Islamic Republic's mission to the United Nations said its actions were aimed at punishing "Israeli crimes", but that it now "deemed the matter concluded".

Iranian army chief of staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri warned on television that "our response will be much larger than the initial military action if Israel retaliates against Iran" and told Washington its bases could also be attacked if it helped Israel retaliate.

Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian said Tehran had informed the US its attack on Israel would be "limited" and for self-defence.

He said Israel's neighbours had also been informed of its planned strikes 72 hours in advance.

Women appeared primary target of Bondi killer

The Australian - Page 5 : 15 April 2024 - Original article by Alexi Demetriadi - Portmac.News Summary

NSW police will investigate whether Westfield Bondi Junction killer Joel Cauchi had deliberately targeted women in his 25-minute rampage on Saturday.

Five of the six people who died in the knife attack were women, as were 10 of the 12 people who were taken to hospital with stab wounds.

Nine of Cauchi's victims remain in hospital, and three are being treated for critical injuries.

Terrorism has been ruled out as a reason for the attack, and NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb says Cauchi had a history of mental health problems.

Cauchi was shot dead only once by police inspector Amy Scott when he lunged at her with the knife.

Meanwhile, some media outlets have come under scrutiny for erroneously identifying a 20-year-old Jewish man as the killer several hours before police named Cauchi.

Treasurer warned of economic turmoil ahead of budget

Brisbane Times - Page Online : 15 April 2024 - Original article by Rachel Clun - Portmac.News Summary

A Treasury Department briefing note has stated that record gold prices and rising oil costs as a result of geopolitical uncertainty have left the economic environment fragile just a month out from Treasurer Jim Chalmers' third budget.

The issue of global economic uncertainty will feature heavily in upcoming International Monetary Fund, World Bank and G20 finance ministers meetings that Chalmers will attend, as well as being one of the main forces shaping the federal government's budget in May.

With the government trying to balance efforts to lower inflation with support for households, Chalmers has said a number of times that any extra cost-of-living support to be unveiled in the budget will not involve major cash outlays.

Chalmers hints at investment tax breaks

The Australian Financial Review - Page 1 & 4 : 15 April 2024 - Original article by Phillip Coorey - Portmac.News Summary

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has told the ABC's Insiders program that the government's 'Made in Australia' program is not primarily about subsidies, while he has indicated it might be looking at a form of business investment allowance in the May budget.

The allowance, which is "Essentially a turbocharged asset write-off scheme", was a policy that Labor took to the 2019 election, with Labor claiming at the time it was better than a company tax cut.

Chalmers also confirmed that the government would reform foreign investment rules to reduce for investors with an established track record, such as pension funds.

Made in Australia plan a 'slippery slope'

The Australian Financial Review - Page 1 & 10 : 13 April 2024 - Original article by Phillip Coorey, John Kehoe, Michael Read - Portmac.News Summary

Productivity Commission chair Danielle Wood has expressed concern about the federal government's Future Made in Australia Act, claiming it risks entrenching industries that would be always dependent on government subsidies for their survival.

Former Commission chairman Peter Harris agrees with Wood that "This is a slippery slope and most times the investment fails", while Bill Scales, who headed the Commission's predecessor agency the Industry Commission from 1992 to 1998, said the Act will lead to lower productivity and living standards.

However, Resources Minister Madeleine King said the Act was "Not just handouts", while former Treasurer Wayne Swan correctly states that Wood is "Completely out of touch with the international reality".

Budget's $1.5b prescription for making medicines in Australia

The Age - Page Online : 15 April 2024 - Original article by David Crowe - Portmac.News Summary

Industry Minister Ed Husic is to release a plan that envisages the National Reconstruction Fund allocating $1.5 billion of its funds towards the domestic manufacture of medicines and medical devices.

Husic contends that too many great Australian medical ideas have ended up being made overseas, with the Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine being cited as a prime example.

Professor Ian Frazer, who led the development of Gardasil, notes that it had to be outsourced to Merck in the United States because Australia lacked the manufacturing capability.

Future of medical research in doubt as question mark lingers over $45 million funding

The Sydney Morning Herald - Page Online : 15 April 2024 - Original article by Mary Ward - Portmac.News Summary

The future of the NSW Medical Research Support Program is in doubt, with the MSRP providing around $45 million a year in funding to the state's medical research organisations.

A NSW Health committee has recommended the MRSP be renewed for a further four-year term, but when Liberal MLC Susan Carter asked a question in March regarding concerns that it was "At risk of a substantial cut", NSW Health Minister Ryan Park took the question on notice.

Questions have been put to Medical Research Minister David Harris about the MRSP, with Harris also not able to guarantee the funding would be renewed.

Government seeks delay to aged care pay rise

The Australian Financial Review - Page 5 : 15 April 2024 - Original article by David Marin-Guzman - Portmac.News Summary

The federal government has told the Fair Work Commission that it would like to see pay rises of up to 13.5 % for aged care workers phased in as two halves on 1 January 2025 and 1 January 2026.

It expressed concern that implementing such a large pay rise at the one time could result in labour shortages in other sectors that have comparable skills to the aged care industry.

Its stance was attacked by the Health Services Union, which claimed that phasing in the pay rise would make it even harder for the aged care sector to retain and recruit workers.

Kennedy sees off Greens to keep Cook a deep blue

The Australian - Page 8 : 15 April 2024 - Original article by Jenna Clarke - Portmac.News Summary

The Coalition retained the federal seat of Cook in the by-election on Saturday, with Liberal candidate Simon Kennedy gaining more than 70% of the vote on a two-candidate preferred basis.

Greens candidate Martin Moore was his sole rival for Cook, after Labor opted against running a candidate in what is regarded as a safe Liberal seat.

The by-election was prompted by the resignation of former prime minister Scott Morrison, who campaigned with Kennedy at polling stations on Saturday.

Oxford might be expensive but returns are high

The Australian Financial Review - Page 9 : 15 April 2024 - Original article by Julie Hare - Portmac.News Summary

A survey of people who undertook post-graduate study at a prestigious overseas university such as one of the US Ivy League universities or Oxford has found all of them got a pay rise after completing their course, with 25% getting a pay increase of over 90%.

New Zealand-born Jacob Bignell, who borrowed around $60,000 to study at Oxford, says it was a great experience and one he recommends to any who asks him what it was like.

After graduating from Oxford, Bignell spent some time travelling around Europe, before heading to Sydney, where he soon secured a job with Bain & Co

'Highly leveraged' : Australian mortgage squeeze tops the world

The New Daily - Page Online : 15 April 2024 - Original article by Matthew Elmas - Portmac.News Summary

Analysis by the Commonwealth Bank show that the current monetary policy tightening cycle has hit Australian households harder than those in other countries.

The bank's economists note that the 13 interest rate hikes since May 2022 have had a bigger impact on real household income than comparable jurisdictions, while fiscal policy has also been a lot tighter in Australia.

Sean Langcake from Oxford Economics Australia notes that the nation also has relatively high levels of household debt.

The proportion of variable-interest home loans is also much higher than countries such as the US, where most home loans have long-term fixed interest rates.

The way to make plastic fantastic

The Australian - Page 17 : 15 April 2024 - Original article by Giuseppe Tauriello - Portmac.News Summary

Adelaide-based Sustainable Infrastructure Systems has developed technology that blends discarded plastics with a proprietary resin-like material to produce prefabricated panels that can be used to make structures such as bridges and jetties.

The first project to make use of its technology will be a pedestrian bridge that is to be installed at the Newenham housing estate in Mount Barker in the Adelaide Hills.

SIS claiming its panels provide a structural strength similar to concrete, but with 48% less embodied carbon, and which can last for well over 100 years.

Start-up plans to refreeze Arctic to save the world

The Australian Financial Review - Page 10 : 15 April 2024 - Original article by Peter Ker, Lap Than - Portmac.News Summary

Andrea Ceccolini is the co-CEO of British start-up Real Ice, which seeks to see thicken Arctic ice shelves and strengthen them against rising temperatures by pumping seawater onto the ice.

He and others in the company ventured to Cambridge Bay in Arctic Canada earlier in the year, where they pumped enough seawater on the ice to add about 30 centimetres of thickness to an area around the size of a soccer field.

Ceccolini says the work that Real Ice is involved in can be best be described as ecosystem preservation, while he says it is possible that the loss of Arctic sea ice could see the North Pole with no ice coverage for the first time in over a million years

News Corp plots major shake-up

The Australian Financial Review - Page 30 : 15 April 2024 - Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones - Portmac.News Summary

News Corp Australia insiders say that the media giant has yet to make a final decision on a proposed restructuring.

News Corp is said to planning to split its operations into three separate divisions;

A metropolitan and sport division would hold its city-based mastheads.

A 'Fast and free' unit would comprise news.com.au and the group's e-commerce sites.

An 'Affluent and influential' division would include assets such as The Australian and prestige magazine titles.

Meanwhile, News Corp is set to sign a new content deal with Google; the existing deal expired last week, and the new one is not expected to result in higher revenue.

Sector slams call to ban $400m of fast-food ads

The Australian Financial Review - Page 30 : 15 April 2024 - Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones - Portmac.News Summary

Guideline SMI data shows that quick service restaurants spent $382m on advertising in 2023.

Free TV Australia and the Australian Association of National Advertisers have expressed concern about a possible move by the federal government to either ban or severely restrict advertisements for 'Unhealthy' foods, including ads for fast food restaurants.

The government funded a feasibility study in 2023 which has called for such restrictions in order to address the issue of childhood obesity.

However, Free TV and the AANA contended in their submissions to the study that any such ban would be unlikely to have much impact on obesity rates.

ABC social media policy 'inadequate'

The Australian - Page 23 : 15 April 2024 - Original article by Sophie Elsworth - Portmac.News Summary

New ABC chairman Kim Williams has expressed an opinion on the use by ABC staff of online platforms that appears to be at odds with the public broadcaster's social media guidelines.

Those guidelines state that a worker's "Personal social media activity is not considered ABC content", but Williams says he is worried about ABC staff expressing their views on social media, regardless of whether the ABC takes responsibility or not.

Coalition senator Sarah Henderson contends the ABC's social media policy is "Woefully inadequate", while Williams says ABC staff who cannot be impartial should find another job.

Rio shoots for stars with Mars exploration tech

The Australian Financial Review - Page 19 : 15 April 2024 - Original article by Brad Thompson - Portmac.News Summary

Rio Tinto is seeking to apply technology first used to analyse rocks on Mars to make new mineral discoveries, with Rio Tinto labelling laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy as a "giant leap forward" in minerals exploration.

Rio Tinto has not made a major formal discovery since the Winu copper-gold find in Western Australia in late 2017, and it hopes to use LIBS to speed up discovery of minerals such as copper and lithium.

Rio states that LIBS can provide data on a rock's mineralogy and chemistry within 60 minutes of a scan, and that it can detect even the lightest elements on the periodic table.

China's big move to cut off Australian iron ore

News.com.au - Page Online : 15 April 2024 - Original article by Jamie Seidel - Portmac.News Summary

The South China Morning Post has reported that the Chinese government hopes the Gara-Djebilet mine in the Sahara Desert will reduce the nation's reliance on iron ore from Australia and Brazil.

The Gara-Djebilet deposit is estimated have reserves about 3.5 billion tonnes, although the ore contains more than eight times the acceptable level of phosphorus; the presence of this mineral weakens any steel that iron ore is used to produce, although a news report claimed that China has overcome the challenges involved in removing phosphorus.

Holiday parks ride domestic tourism wave

The Australian Financial Review - Page 34 : 15 April 2024 - Original article by Larry Schlesinger - Portmac.News Summary

Data from accounting and advisory firm BDO Australia reveals that holiday and caravan parks generated average revenue of $641,000 between December and February, up 12% on the previous corresponding period.

Occupancy rates increased by 2% to 49%.

The increase in revenue and occupancy rates was attributed to families seeking more affordable holidays in response to cost of living pressures, while the strength of the holiday park sector makes it a growing attraction for companies.

A holiday park near Hastings Point on the NSW Tweed Coast set a record when it sold for $50 million in March to private equity-backed operator Tasman Holiday Parks.

Dodgy agents escape penalties

The Australian - Page 7 : 15 April 2024 - Original article by James Dowling - Portmac.News Summary

NSW Fair Trading established a dedicated team in May 2023 to deal with the issue of underquoting by real estate agents, a practice said to be pervasive across Sydney and becoming more frequent around Australia.

However, it is yet to hand down the maximum penalty for underquoting, which is a $22,000 fine.

Buyer's Agent Association of Australia president Rich Harvey has described the $22,000 fine as a "Paltry amount", and a "Woefully inadequate deterrent".

Meanwhile buyers' agent Kylie Frearson says a lack of enforcement is encouraging more agents to mislead customers.

Japan likes Aussie market to tune of $2b

The Australian Financial Review - Page 31 & 32 : 15 April 2024 - Original article by Michael Bleby - Portmac.News Summary

Data from law firm Herbert Smith Freehills shows that Japanese deal-making activity in Australia rose strongly in 2023.

Inbound investment from Japan reached a record high of more than $2bn during the calendar year.

Japanese investors were involved in 53 deals, with the number of transactions in the property sector rising from six to 13.

Herbert Smith Freehills partner Michael Back notes that the rebound in Japanese investment coincided with a downturn in capital inflows from other Asian nations such as Singapore and Malaysia.

ASX Spectre of war hangs over shares

The Australian Financial Review - Page 16 & 22 : 15 April 2024 - Original article by Cecile Lefort - Portmac.News Summary

Futures pricing suggests that Australian equities will open 0.6% higher on Monday.

A negative lead from Wall Street and Iran's missile and drone attack on Israel are set to weigh on investor sentiment.

The escalating crisis in the Middle East is likely to put further upward pressure on the crude oil price, which has risen by 17% so far in 2024.

David Bassanese from Betashares says any disruption to oil supplies could increase inflation globally, which would in turn have implications for the timing of interest rate cuts.

The S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.3% lower at 7,788.1 points on Friday.