1h agoTue 2 Dec 2025 at 9:08pm
Market snapshot
ASX futures: +0.2% to 8,607 pointsASX 200 (Tuesday close): +0.2% to 8,580 pointsAustralian dollar: +0.4% at 65.7 US centsWall Street: Dow Jones (+0.4%), S&P 500 (+0.3%), Nasdaq (+0.6%)Europe: FTSE (flat), DAX (+0.5%), Stoxx 600 (+0.1%)Spot gold: -0.8% to $US4,197/ounceOil (Brent crude): -1.2% at $US62.41/barrelIron ore: +0.2% to $US103.80/tonneBitcoin: +8.1% at $US91,952
Prices current at around 8am AEDT
6m agoTue 2 Dec 2025 at 10:29pm
RBA watching investor impact on broader housing market
Next up with questions is Greens Senator Nick McKim.
He asks if the RBA has any concerns about the record amount of credit being extended to property investors, in terms of system stability.
Ms Bullock says the central bank doesn’t really have concerns about risky lending to investors directly.
“Where the bank has potential financial stability concerns to do with lending to property investors, is that property investors can tend to exacerbate the housing price cycle.
“And if that has implications for owner occupiers who try to chase the market and end up in different situations that can potentially [raise concerns] … but we’re not seeing concerns about that at the moment.
“But nevertheless, that’s the general concern we would have.”
7m agoTue 2 Dec 2025 at 10:28pm
Market recap: Alan Kohler’s finance report
If you a need a refresher before the ASX trading day begins, I can certainly recommend Alan Kohler’s finance report.
Alan discusses the latest building approvals figures — they were very weak, and suggest it’ll be impossible for the Albanese government to build 1.2 million homes in five years.
He also took a look at the recent cryptocurrency sell-off and the price of bitcoin, which has fallen by around 30% in just two months.
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17m agoTue 2 Dec 2025 at 10:17pm
Inflation surprised, unemployment didn’t: Bullock
Moving on from government deficits, the questions turn to the inflation outlook.
Ms Bullock says the central bank is very focused on the ‘trimmed mean’ measure of core inflation at the moment, given the impact of government energy subsidies on the headline number.
“Correct me if I’m wrong … that inflation has been higher than your forecasts and Treasury’s. Is is that right?” asks Senator Paterson.
“Certainly inflation has priced on the upside. The unemployment rate hasn’t,” says Ms Bullock, noting unemployment is “pretty much” as expected.
“Then of course we’ve got some data, at 1130, which will tell us how the economy went.”
Christopher Kent and Michelle Bullcok (Australian Parliament House Streaming Portal)
Stay tuned for GDP at 11:30am AEDT, then!
28m agoTue 2 Dec 2025 at 10:07pm
RBA senate grilling kicks off
The hearing has kicked off and we’re straight into questions.
It looks like RBA governor Michele Bullock and assistant governor for financial markets Christopher Kent are appearing remotely.
The first question is on the neutral rate from Liberal James Paterson.
Ms Bullock says there’s a “possibility” that higher fiscal deficits could lead to a higher neutral rate, with caveats.
“I emphasis that there’s domestic factors here, but there’s also global factors … we don’t control global factors.”
40m agoTue 2 Dec 2025 at 9:55pm
RBA governor appearing before Senate Estimates shortly
Jumping it to let you know Michelle Bullock will be up before a parliamentary hearing very soon — I’ll keep you across what she has to say.
43m agoTue 2 Dec 2025 at 9:52pm
Australian GDP likely to be driven higher by business investment as consumer spending slows down, CBA economists predict
Here’s what economists from Commonwealth Bank are expecting to see from the latest ABS economic figures at 11:30am AEDT:
“We expect GDP growth of 0.7%/qtr in September, just a slight acceleration from 0.6% growth in the June quarter (barring any revisions).
“A 0.7% quarterly outcome would see then pace of annual growth in the Australian economy accelerate to 2.1%, in line with our estimate of potential growth in Australia.
“Growth in the September quarter was driven by both private and public demand. After a number of softer quarters, public demand returned in the September quarter, at the same time where private demand rose sharply driven by investment in both dwellings and machinery, plant and equipment.”
CBA’s economics team is also expecting to see “household consumption to take a step down in the September quarter as higher inflation ate into volume growth in the quarter”.
“Residential construction is forecast to post a decent lift in the quarter of 3% driven by both alterations and additions and new work”, according to Ashwin Clarke, Lucinda Jerogin and Belinda Allen, the economists who authored that note.
“Business investment is expected to have [risen] sharply due to investment in data centres and air transport,” they added.
“Equipment investment is expected to lift by a large 11% and other buildings and structures are also expected to rise by a solid 3%”.
1h agoTue 2 Dec 2025 at 9:30pm
Albanese government’s AI plan falls well short of keeping Australians safe, says AI expert
The federal government has laid out its road map to accelerate the development and adoption of artificial intelligence.
It has essentially accepted demands from business groups to pause mandatory guardrails, which had been intended to operate under a standalone AI Act to protect Australians from potential harm.
Co-director of the UTS Human Technology Institute, Professor Nicholas Davis, said the government’s plan falls well short when it comes to keeping Australians safe.
Australia’s data protection and privacy rules are “woefully out of date” compared to the rest of the world, he said in an interview with The Business host Kirsten Aiken.
Professor Davies is also calling for the government to legislate protections for online safety, privacy, and protections for children. You can listen to more of his insights here:
Loading…1h agoTue 2 Dec 2025 at 9:22pm
Small businesses losing thousands to fraudulent online chargeback claims
Shoplifting has long been the bane of small businesses and now thieves have moved online, with frustrated traders reporting customers making fraudulent claims for their money back.
The fake refund claims — instigated by shoppers requesting transaction reversals, known as “chargebacks”, through their banks — have been labelled theft and led to shop owners calling for greater protection from cyber criminals.
A chargeback is the reversal of a purchase, in this case online, initiated by a customer through their bank.
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Customers may lodge legitimate chargebacks if they are charged for an order they never receive and are denied a refund by the retailer, or if they notice card charges for purchases they have not made.
However, fraudulent chargebacks, when customers receive their order, claim a refund and keep the item, mean retailers are being left out of pocket and with no way to recover their stock.
You can find out more in this article by Adelaide Miller:
1h agoTue 2 Dec 2025 at 9:10pm
Prada Group purchases fashion rival Versace in $2.2 billion deal
The Prada Group has officially purchased Milan fashion rival Versace in a 1.25 billion euro ($2.2 billion) deal.
The deal puts the fashion house known for its sexy silhouettes under the same roof as Prada’s “ugly chic” aesthetic and Miu Miu’s youth-driven appeal.
The move is expected to relaunch Versace’s fortunes, after middling post-pandemic performance as part of the US luxury group Capri Holdings.
You can read more about it here:
1h agoTue 2 Dec 2025 at 9:08pm
ASX to open slightly higher, following gains on Wall Street
Good morning and welcome to the ABC’s finance blog! I’ll be your guide for the next few hours.
It looks like the local share market will rise slightly in morning trade, with ASX futures pointing to a 0.2% opening gain.
The Australian dollar rose 0.4% to 65.6 US cents. It’s also buying 102 yen, which is a one-year high against the Japanese currency.
This follows an upbeat session on Wall Street as investors are increasingly betting on an interest rate reduction from the US Federal Reserve next Thursday (Australian time).
The likelihood of a standard rate cut (0.25 percentage points)at the next Fed meeting has risen to 89.2%, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.
The main US stock indexes recorded moderate gains, with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 rising 0.4% and 0.3%, while the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite lifted 0.6%.
It was driven by gains by mega-caps like Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft, which rose by around 1% each, while Intel jumped almost 8%.
Australia’s economic growth in focus
In local economic news, the ABS will release its latest GDP (gross domestic product) figures at 11:30am AEDT.
This new data will reveal how the domestic economy performed in the third-quarter of 2025.
Australia’s economy is likely to have grown by 0.7% in the three months to September and 2.2% in the year to September, according to economists polled by Reuters.
If so, it would be an improvement over the previous result (up 0.6% in the June quarter and 1.8% annually).
In the meantime, grab a coffee or tea, eat some breakfast, or whatever you fancy. I’ll have some more updates for you shortly!
