Australia / New Zealand

Global bond yields reached new highs as renewed fighting in the Middle East pushed oil prices to $90 per barrel, and pressured stock markets around the globe. Japan's benchmark 10-year rate hit 3% for a first time in decades. The 10-year U.S. Treasury Yield, which is used as a benchmark to price all asset classes, reached its highest level since early 2025, at 4.78%. Futures for French and German bonds extended the selling that had previously driven yields up to 15-year levels. Ryutaro kimura, senior strategist at BNP asset management in Tokyo, said: "I think that there is a sense...

Oil prices fell for the first time in three weeks last Friday as investors weighed Gulf developments and awaited Kevin Warsh's potentially market-moving comments. Brent fell 0.6% to $89.2 per barrel, close to the middle of its range since mid-June. The benchmark was still on track to drop more than 5% this week. Attention is focused on an upcoming deal between Iran, Oman, and the U.S. on the management of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. The fall in oil prices combined with the rally in technology shares after Nvidia’s results on Tuesday helped the?MSCI all country world share indices...

After a technology rally fueled by Nvidia, shares in Asia slowed down on Friday. The currency and bond markets waited for the most powerful central banker of the world to comment on U.S. rates. The oil prices are headed for a weekly loss as Iran and Oman have agreed to share'revenues and administer 'traffic along the Strait of Hormuz, even though Washington is not interested in restarting direct talks with Tehran. Brent fell 0.4% to $89.33 per barrel, but the weekly decline was expected to be over 5%. The Nikkei, Japan's stock market index, rose 0.5%. Taiwanese stocks gained 0.8%...

The shares in Asia were cautious after the technology rally fueled by Nvidia, and currency and bond markets awaited the words of the world's largest central banker on U.S. rates. The oil prices are headed for a weekly loss as Iran and Oman have 'agreed' to share revenues and administer traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, even though Washington has shown little interest in restarting direct talks with Tehran. Brent fell 0.1% to $89.63 per barrel, but the weekly decline was expected to be over 5%. The Nikkei, Japan's stock market index, rose 0.5%. Taiwanese stocks gained 1.2%, after Nvidia's...

Stocks rose on Thursday in Asian trading as 'Nvidia’s' earnings report exceeded estimates. This boosted tech hardware manufacturers, and revived investor confidence. MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific index excluding Japan gained 0.2%. This extended its gains for a third day in a row after Nvidia announced that its quarterly revenue had more than doubled, and forecasted third-quarter revenues above Wall Street expectations. In after-hours trades, the AI chipmaker's stock jumped by 4.7%. This lifted S&P 500 futures by 0.3%. Chris Weston, Head of Research at Pepperstone Group Melbourne said that the business is in "absolutely rude health". It's going wake people up,...

Stocks climbed at the beginning of Thursday's Asia-Pacific session, as Nvidia beat expectations. This boosted tech hardware manufacturers' confidence and revived investor confidence after overnight data showed that the Federal Reserve preferred U.S. Inflation measure was still hot. MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific index excluding Japan rose 0.7% and is on course to extend gains for a third day in a row after Nvidia announced that its quarterly revenues had more than doubled, and forecasted third-quarter revenue well above Wall Street expectations. In after-hours trades, the AI chipmaker's stock jumped by 4.7%. This lifted S&P 500 e-minis futures 0.4%. Chris Weston said,...

Investors regained calm in the global bond and share markets on Tuesday, as they shrugged off U.S. sanctions plans against Iran. They began to prepare for Nvidia's earnings report due out Wednesday. U.S. Treasury secretary?Scott Bessent warned countries to cut financial ties with Iran on Monday or face secondary sanctions. However, the Treasury Department did not actually impose penalties. The news prompted a slight drop in oil prices as well as the benchmark government bond yields. This was also aided by the report that the U.S. Treasury may use its cash account to fund increased U.S. Debt Buybacks. Wall Street...

Investors in global share and bond markets were calmer on Tuesday, as they shrugged off U.S. plans to extend sanctions against Iran?and started preparing for the results of Nvidia, the world's most valuable company. U.S. Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent warned on Monday that countries would face secondary sanctions if they did not cut financial ties to Iran as part of the "economic D-Day," which was dubbed by some as an "economic D-Day." However, the Treasury Department stopped just short of imposing actual penalties. The report that the U.S. Treasury may use its cash account to fund increased U.S. government debt...

After the U.S.'s "economic D-Day", sanctions against Iran, turned out to not be as severe as they had feared. U.S. Treasury rates are down from their recent highs after a report stating that the Treasury Department may tap into its cash account to fund increased debt buybacks. This could reduce the requirement for additional short-term bill sales. Investors are well aware of the high expectations that Nvidia will have to meet. Analysts expect quarterly revenues to nearly double, to $92 billion. Full-year earnings are expected to range between $103 billion and $105 billion. "Those are high expectations that must be...

The crude oil market is currently debating the wrong issue about how much oil actually moves through the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, it should focus on the restricted flows of'refined products' around Asia. Energy Secretary Chris Wright of the U.S. has claimed repeatedly that vessel tracking analysts such as Kpler cannot see how much crude oil is flowing through the disputed Strait. Wright claimed that 15 million barrels of oil per day (bpd), or about 500,000 barrels a day, left the Strait of?Hormuz in a single day last week. If true, this would bring the volumes to?what they were before...

The global stock market was headed for a largely lower week last Friday as the strain on the global bond markets did not show any signs of easing and the diplomatic deadlock over the Gulf pushed oil prices up to a one-month high. The yields on U.S. government bonds resumed their rise after the surprise intervention by the Treasury on Wednesday. This was barely a relief from selling that had been sparked primarily by fears of inflation and fiscal pressures. The increase came as?U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested that the government could increase its repurchases and also floated the...

Investors began to question the effectiveness of the Treasury's support on Thursday, as bond prices slid and stocks were under pressure. The yield on the 30-year U.S. Government Bond rose by 3.05 basis points, to 5.2235%. It had fallen to 5.1765% a day earlier. This was after the Treasury announced that it would buy back additional longer-dated bonds. Prices and yields are inversely related. The bond market was closely watching the moves to see if they were able to stop a downturn that had sent shockwaves through multiple asset classes. The MSCI global stock index fell for four straight sessions,...

Two U.S. officials said on Monday that the U.S. company North American Blue Energy Partners would take over oilfields controlled by several Chinese firms and a Russian firm. They said that the 'takeover' will be part of an oil production agreement President Donald Trump has announced with Venezuela. According to officials, the projects were part of 14 new contracts awarded to U.S.-backed North American Blue Energy Partners. NABEP, owned by U.S. oil magnate Harry Sargeant, is now controlled and managed by Venezuelan Alejandro Betancourt. Last week, Trump said that the U.S. has secured access to 64 billion barrels (or a...

Argentina and Chile want to unlock 'billions' of dollars worth of mining investment by advancing regulatory and legal frameworks which would allow 'companies to pool infrastructure and resources in the Andes Mountains. The Mining Integration and Complementation Treaty will be discussed by officials from both countries on Thursday. This 1997 agreement was revived in July following decades of slow progress. They are looking to move forward a new generation copper projects. Both the conservative Chilean president Jose Antonio Kast (who took office in March) and the libertarian Argentinean President Javier Milei are attempting to increase private investment. Chile's Mining minister...

Lynas rare earths, based in Australia, reported a'sharp rise' in its annual profit on Wednesday. This was aided by a record-high average price for a?rare-earths oxychloride and a strong demand. However, it missed the'market expectations, which sent its shares down in early trading. The largest rare-earths manufacturer outside China, said that the price increases were due to firm pricing and agreements on floor prices with Japanese and U.S. clients. This helped reduce volatility. Its average selling price rose 59% to $80.7 per kilogram, helped by ?improved pricing of neodymium-praseodymium, a key rare-earth magnet material, and a higher ?share of heavy...

Fortescue is Australia's third largest miner. On Tuesday, it announced that a senior executive was suspended while he was under investigation for allegations of sexual harassment. Fortescue took the allegations "extremely serious" and hired MinterEllison as an investigator, it said in a last-week statement. Australian Financial Review first reported the allegations against the senior executive, who has not been named, earlier this month. The miner stated on Tuesday that Fortescue had continued to seek external legal and governance guidance as the investigation progressed. The employee who is the subject of the allegations has decided to not work for Fortescue until...

A Brazilian court announced on Thursday that 19 additional cities have joined the compensation agreement reached with the miners BHP Vale Samarco over the 'collapse of the Mariana dam in 2015', including the city which was at the epicenter of the disaster. The deal signed in October 2024 and ratified by 45 out of 49 municipalities that are eligible for funds now has the backing of these 45 municipalities. The 2015 dam failure in an iron ore mining owned by Samarco (a joint venture between Vale, BHP and BHP) near the city of?Mariana, in southeastern Brazil killed 19 people and...

Fortescue, an Australian mining company, reported a higher profit for the year on Thursday. This was largely due to a rise in iron ore shipments and a stronger realised price. The company announced a final payout of 46 Australian cents for each share. This is down from 60 Australian cents a year earlier. The miner declared its lowest final dividend?since fiscal 2018 with a payout of?65% on fiscal 2026's underlying net profit. Fortescue met market expectations for its earnings despite increased Hematite C1 costs due to higher diesel prices. The fourth largest 'iron ore miner in the world reported a...

Executives and analysts say that Indian steel mills face increasing pressure on their margins due to higher "coking coal" prices as a result of the Iran War and supply disruptions in Australia and China. India, after China the largest crude steel producer in the world, imports 95% of its coal, at least half from Australia. Nearly 40% of the cost of steel production is accounted for by coking coal. Indian steelmakers are increasing their spending in order to meet the strong domestic demand, driven by infrastructure development and economic growth. This could lead to squeezed margins and a delay in...

The fact that China's steel production dropped to its lowest level this year in July supports the idea that the world's second largest economy struggles for growth momentum. As usual, the devil lies in the details. Steel demand is unevenly distributed across the economy. The world's biggest producer of industrial metal saw its steel output fall to 76.93 metric?tons during July. This is a 3.6% drop from the same period in 2025, and it was the lowest July since 2017. China's first seven months of the year saw a production volume of 577.04 millions tons, down by 3.1% compared to...

The Combined BHP Ports Unions announced on Tuesday that it was unable to reach an agreement with 'BHP regarding a wage agreement for its Port Hedland operation in Western Australia. Both sides are expected to resume discussions on August 25, The company spent months at the table with unions that represent around 450 maintenance and operators workers to negotiate a new wage deal. BHP has more than 800 employees at the port. The union stated that BHP's proposal "did not adequately address the concerns of those whose hardwork generated this $13 billion profit", adding that the workers would consult their...

Leigh Curyer, the CEO of NexGen Energy, said that it was "talking" and sharing information with BHP about its Rook I project in Saskatchewan. NexGen Energy, a Canadian uranium mining company, has started construction on what will be the largest uranium mine in the world. The company is looking to raise $1 billion of capital over the next nine-month period. The miner will consider financing options such as prepayment agreements with utilities, debt finance, and direct equity in the project. Curyer, when asked if NexGen was in contact with BHP regarding a possible equity partnership in Athabasca Basin, said that...

The law firm Slater and Gordon announced on Monday that it filed a class action against James Hardie Industries in an Australian court to seek compensation for losses suffered by investors due to the company’s earnings forecasts and market disclosures for fiscal 2026. The suit also claims that the conduct of the fiber cement maker artificially inflates its share price. It follows another action that was filed a few months ago, alleging that the company failed not to disclose adverse circumstances in its "North America" business. Slater and Gordon announced that it had begun court proceedings against investors who purchased...

Three sources familiar with the matter said that the Chinese state iron ore purchaser reached an agreement in April with 'Anglo American over an annual supply contract for the key ingredient used to make steel. China Mineral 'Resources Group' (CMRG) was established in 2022 in order to gain more power on the iron ore markets where China is a dominant buyer. They have increased their efforts to get better terms for Chinese Steelmakers who are struggling with dwindling margins and dwindling demand. Bloomberg broke the news on Friday. Sources said that CMRG, under the?agreement which was not previously reported, became...