ASX to open lower; Oil rises, Wall St closed

19-06-2025

Australian shares are poised to open lower again. Wall Street was closed for the Juneteenth public holiday. S&P 500 contracts retreated 0.9%. Europe's Stoxx 600 index closed 0.8% lower, falling for a third session. Asian shares dropped 1.4%.
Brent crude advanced past $US78 a barrel, extending gains in a week where market reaction to the Middle East conflict has been most concentrated in oil. The dollar rose 0.2%
Market highlights
ASX futures are pointing down 41 points or -0.5 per cent to 8478
All US prices are as of 1.30pm New York time.
AUD -0.8% to 64.56 US¢
Bitcoin +0.5% to $US104,611
On Wall St: Dow -0.1% S&P flat Nasdaq +0.1%
VIX 2.03 to 22.17
Gold +0.1% to $US3,371.85 an ounce
Brent oil +2.5% to $US78.63 a barrel
Iron ore +0.5% to $US92.90 a tonne
10-year yield: US 4.39% Australia 4.21%
Today's agenda
Wall Street is closed for the Juneteenth holiday.
Top stories
Family trusts and electric vehicles in tax review spotlight | Higher taxes on family trusts and electric vehicle drivers are likely to be proposed by Treasury for Jim Chalmers to help pay for income tax cuts.
| There's a growing sense of urgency within government about the need to secure a meeting with the US president.
The $300 billion fund has only just been approved to manage assets internally. Dexus is already fighting with Australian Pacific Airports Corporation investors.
Climate won't be central to Labor's environment law overhaul | Environment Minister Murray Watt said there were already mechanisms to deal with emissions from Australian coal and gas burnt overseas.

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Misleading 'ghost stores' haunting Australian consumers

Perth Now

an hour ago

Perth Now

Misleading 'ghost stores' haunting Australian consumers

Australians have been warned to stay alert for "ghost stores" as shoppers who fall victim have few avenues for recourse. At least four such stores have been noted by the Australian consumer watchdog for misleading shoppers into buying low-quality items. They often claim to be local Australian businesses that are closing down and selling off high-quality goods, when they are actually based overseas and sell poor-quality, drop-shipped clothes and footwear. "This conduct preys on the empathy of consumers who have a genuine desire to support local businesses," Australian Competition and Consumer Commission deputy chair Catriona Lowe said. The commission specifically issued public warning notices about and However, the issue appears to be more widespread with the watchdog receiving at least 360 reports about 60 online retailers since the start of 2025. Many complaints alleged ghost stores were refusing to provide refunds, were offering only partial refunds or were not responding to complaints at all. Normally, Australians could pursue their consumer rights and go to a local store. But because so many of the shops operate overseas, the usual consumer guarantees would not apply, Consumer Action Law Centre legal director Stephen Nowicki said. "There's very little you can do," he told AAP. The commission has urged consumers to contact their bank to see if they can reverse the charge or stop the transaction. While this can be done when Australians fall victim to scams, the situation with ghost stores is less clear because shoppers still receive a product. "It becomes harder in these kinds of situations, compared to an outright scam, to know what is a genuine discount versus what someone is presenting as a discount but is actually something not worth what they are promoting it as," Mr Nowicki said. But there are some potential areas for reform. Though governments could not pass laws that would give consumers jurisdiction against an overseas business, they could try to block and prevent advertising in the first place. Operators generally target Australians through social media ads on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. They make themselves appear local by closing and then rebranding under new names that use different Australian suburbs, towns or cities. The competition and consumer commission has written to Meta, which owns both platforms, and e-commerce giant Shopify, which can be used to host and operate ghost web stores. It has also tried to educate shoppers. Ghost store domains often end with ".com" and not ". and many use AI-generated images. They also generally do not provide a physical address or a means of contact beyond an email address, while their Privacy Policy or Terms of Service sometimes refers to international regulations rather than Australian laws.